Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Trading 0.6% Higher

Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)’s share price rose 0.6% on Monday . The company traded as high as $432.15 and last traded at $427.72. Approximately 4,106,032 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 80% from the average daily volume of 20,487,918 shares. The stock had previously closed at $425.27.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MSFT has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Raymond James restated an “outperform” rating and set a $480.00 price objective (up previously from $450.00) on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Truist Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $600.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Monday, June 17th. UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $480.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Tigress Financial increased their price target on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 13th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of Microsoft from $465.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 12th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-three have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $485.53.

Microsoft Stock Up 0.5 %

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 has a market cap of $3.18 trillion, a PE ratio of 37.03, a P/E/G ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 0.89. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $440.53 and its 200 day simple moving average is $420.91.

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, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.81 by $0.13. Microsoft had a net margin of 36.43% and a return on equity of 37.54%. The firm had revenue of $61.86 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $60.86 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.45 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 17.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 11.77 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 15th will be given a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.70%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 15th. Microsoft’s payout ratio is currently 25.97%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Microsoft news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 244 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief marketing officer now owns 47,011 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,534,480.83. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Microsoft news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 244 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred 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 in the company, valued at approximately $19,534,480.83. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 104,949 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $44,674,690.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 25,566 shares of company stock valued at $10,877,535. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Microsoft

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Innealta Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the second quarter worth $75,000. Center For Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 7.2% during the second quarter. Center For Asset Management LLC now owns 14,752 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $6,593,000 after buying an additional 996 shares in the last quarter. F M Investments LLC grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 990.6% during the second quarter. F M Investments LLC now owns 262,122 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $117,199,000 after buying an additional 238,088 shares in the last quarter. American Capital Advisory LLC grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 50.0% during the second quarter. American Capital Advisory LLC now owns 2,052 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $917,000 after buying an additional 684 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cortland Associates Inc. MO grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 8.1% during the second quarter. Cortland Associates Inc. MO now owns 6,789 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $3,035,000 after buying an additional 506 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.