Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Given New $495.00 Price Target at TD Cowen

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) had its price target increased by TD Cowen from $470.00 to $495.00 in a report released on Thursday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a buy rating on the software giant’s stock.

MSFT has been the subject of a number of other reports. Tigress Financial lifted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Thursday, June 13th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Microsoft from $480.00 to $500.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $485.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Piper Sandler restated an overweight rating and set a $465.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Friday, July 12th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Microsoft from $465.00 to $520.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-three have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $484.94.

Microsoft Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of Microsoft stock opened at $437.11 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $3.25 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.89. Microsoft has a 52-week low of $309.45 and a 52-week high of $468.35. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $439.22 and its 200-day simple moving average is $418.86. The company has a quick ratio of 1.23, a current ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The software giant reported $2.94 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.81 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $61.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $60.86 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 37.54% and a net margin of 36.43%. Microsoft’s quarterly revenue was up 17.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.45 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Microsoft will post 11.77 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 15th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.69%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is currently 25.97%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 244 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $415.53, for a total transaction of $101,389.32. Following the completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 47,011 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,534,480.83. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 244 shares of the business’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 directly owns 47,011 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,534,480.83. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 104,949 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $44,674,690.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 25,566 shares of company stock valued at $10,877,535. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Microsoft

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Friedenthal Financial acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $45,000. Neo Ivy Capital Management bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter worth $58,000. Richardson Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Microsoft by 1,290.0% during the 1st quarter. Richardson Capital Management LLC now owns 139 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $59,000 after acquiring an additional 129 shares during the last quarter. PayPay Securities Corp grew its holdings in Microsoft by 23.7% during the 4th quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 188 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $71,000 after acquiring an additional 36 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bellevue Group AG increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 47.5% in the 1st quarter. Bellevue Group AG now owns 180 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $76,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Microsoft Company Profile

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.