Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Given New $500.00 Price Target at UBS Group

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) had its target price cut by UBS Group from $510.00 to $500.00 in a research note released on Thursday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a buy rating on the software giant’s stock.

Several other analysts have also weighed in on MSFT. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of Microsoft from $470.00 to $465.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Microsoft from $506.00 to $548.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $470.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday. Finally, TD Cowen decreased their target price on Microsoft from $495.00 to $475.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and twenty-six have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $503.03.

Microsoft Stock Up 1.9 %

Shares of NASDAQ MSFT traded up $7.63 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $413.98. The company had a trading volume of 12,395,806 shares, compared to its average volume of 20,372,172. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a current ratio of 1.27. Microsoft has a 12-month low of $344.77 and a 12-month high of $468.35. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $420.82 and a two-hundred day moving average of $424.58. The company has a market capitalization of $3.08 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.99, a PEG ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 0.90.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.08 by $0.22. Microsoft had a return on equity of 35.73% and a net margin of 35.61%. The business had revenue of $65.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $64.57 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.99 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Microsoft will post 13.02 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be given a dividend of $0.83 per share. This is a positive change from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.80%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. Microsoft’s payout ratio is presently 24.75%.

Microsoft announced that its board has approved a share buyback program on Monday, September 16th that permits the company to buyback $60.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the software giant to purchase up to 1.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity

In related news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $411.04, for a total transaction of $1,027,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 50,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,552,000. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $411.04, for a total value of $1,027,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 50,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,552,000. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Satya Nadella sold 14,398 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $417.41, for a total transaction of $6,009,869.18. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 786,933 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $328,473,703.53. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 190,629 shares of company stock worth $77,916,485 over the last 90 days. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in MSFT. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 169.2% in the 2nd quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 70 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP acquired a new stake in Microsoft in the 2nd quarter worth about $45,000. Richardson Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 1,290.0% in the first quarter. Richardson Capital Management LLC now owns 139 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $59,000 after buying an additional 129 shares in the last quarter. Innealta Capital LLC bought a new position in Microsoft during the 2nd quarter worth $75,000. Finally, Bellevue Group AG raised its stake in Microsoft by 47.5% in the first quarter. Bellevue Group AG now owns 180 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $76,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

About Microsoft

Microsoft Corporation develops and supports software, services, devices and solutions worldwide. The Productivity and Business Processes segment offers office, exchange, SharePoint, Microsoft Teams, office 365 Security and Compliance, Microsoft viva, and Microsoft 365 copilot; and office consumer services, such as Microsoft 365 consumer subscriptions, Office licensed on-premises, and other office services.