Sanford C. Bernstein Raises Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Price Target to $489.00

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) had its price objective boosted by Sanford C. Bernstein from $465.00 to $489.00 in a research note issued to investors on Friday morning, Benzinga reports. Sanford C. Bernstein currently has an outperform rating on the software giant’s stock.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Microsoft from $440.00 to $470.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a report on Friday. StockNews.com cut Microsoft from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report on Thursday, February 22nd. Citigroup cut their price target on shares of Microsoft from $480.00 to $475.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Macquarie upped their target price on shares of Microsoft from $430.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on Microsoft from $415.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $452.61.

Microsoft Trading Down 1.0 %

Shares of MSFT stock opened at $402.25 on Friday. Microsoft has a fifty-two week low of $303.40 and a fifty-two week high of $430.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a current ratio of 1.24. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $414.45 and its two-hundred day moving average is $389.01. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.99 trillion, a P/E ratio of 34.83, a PEG ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 0.89.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The software giant reported $2.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.81 by $0.13. Microsoft had a net margin of 36.43% and a return on equity of 37.54%. The company had revenue of $61.86 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $60.86 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.45 EPS. Microsoft’s revenue was up 17.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Microsoft will post 11.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.75%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 15th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is presently 25.97%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, major shareholder Corp Microsoft sold 1,000,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $1.95, for a total value of $1,950,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 11,677,398 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,770,926.10. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 3,303 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $406.12, for a total value of $1,341,414.36. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 570,826 shares in the company, valued at approximately $231,823,855.12. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Corp Microsoft sold 1,000,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $1.95, for a total transaction of $1,950,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 11,677,398 shares in the company, valued at $22,770,926.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 1,070,258 shares of company stock valued at $30,690,456. 0.03% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Microsoft

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Johnson Bixby & Associates LLC grew its holdings in Microsoft by 0.4% during the first quarter. Johnson Bixby & Associates LLC now owns 6,481 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $2,727,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares during the period. Morris Financial Concepts Inc. grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Morris Financial Concepts Inc. now owns 2,663 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,001,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the period. Innova Wealth Partners increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Innova Wealth Partners now owns 4,239 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $1,594,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Arkansas Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Arkansas Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,719 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $646,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the period. Finally, Partnership Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 0.4% during the first quarter. Partnership Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,202 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $2,609,000 after buying an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.