Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Stock Price Up 0.9%

Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)’s stock price rose 0.9% on Monday . The company traded as high as $452.31 and last traded at $451.16. Approximately 4,846,987 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 77% from the average daily volume of 20,810,082 shares. The stock had previously closed at $446.95.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Microsoft from $440.00 to $470.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $500.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Friday, May 24th. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and set a $465.00 price target (up from $455.00) on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Macquarie boosted their price target on Microsoft from $460.00 to $475.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 17th. Finally, Tigress Financial boosted their price target on Microsoft from $475.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 13th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Microsoft presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $467.12.

Microsoft Price Performance

The company has a current ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $424.11 and its 200-day moving average price is $410.15. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.37 trillion, a PE ratio of 39.06, a PEG ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 0.89.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The software giant reported $2.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.81 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $61.86 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $60.86 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 37.54% and a net margin of 36.43%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 17.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.45 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 11.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 15th will be given a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.66%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 15th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 25.97%.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $425.68, for a total transaction of $10,642,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 104,949 shares in the company, valued at approximately $44,674,690.32. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 244 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $415.53, for a total transaction of $101,389.32. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer now owns 47,011 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,534,480.83. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $425.68, for a total value of $10,642,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 104,949 shares in the company, valued at approximately $44,674,690.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 25,566 shares of company stock valued at $10,877,535. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of MSFT. Friedenthal Financial bought a new position in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $45,000. Neo Ivy Capital Management bought a new position in Microsoft in the fourth quarter worth approximately $58,000. Richardson Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Microsoft by 1,290.0% in the first quarter. Richardson Capital Management LLC now owns 139 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $59,000 after purchasing an additional 129 shares in the last quarter. PayPay Securities Corp grew its stake in Microsoft by 23.7% in the fourth quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 188 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $71,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bellevue Group AG grew its stake in Microsoft by 47.5% in the first quarter. Bellevue Group AG now owns 180 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $76,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. 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.