Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Trading Up 2.2%

Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) was up 2.2% on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $410.08 and last traded at $408.51. Approximately 4,704,891 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 78% from the average daily volume of 20,973,203 shares. The stock had previously closed at $399.61.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on MSFT shares. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Microsoft from $465.00 to $500.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 12th. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on Microsoft from $450.00 to $500.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, June 7th. Citigroup decreased their price objective on Microsoft from $520.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Raymond James restated an “outperform” rating and set a $480.00 price target (up from $450.00) on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Microsoft from $440.00 to $470.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Microsoft currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $487.33.

Microsoft Stock Up 0.0 %

The firm has a market cap of $2.97 trillion, a PE ratio of 35.37, a PEG ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 1.27 and a quick ratio of 1.23. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $438.25 and a 200-day simple moving average of $422.00.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $2.95 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.90 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $64.73 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $64.38 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 35.95% and a net margin of 35.96%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.69 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 13.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In related news, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $425.68, for a total value of $10,642,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 104,949 shares in the company, valued at $44,674,690.32. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other Microsoft news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 322 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $416.60, for a total transaction of $134,145.20. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 47,255 shares in the company, valued at $19,686,433. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 104,949 shares in the company, valued at $44,674,690.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 25,566 shares of company stock valued at $10,877,535 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Microsoft

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MSFT. Financial Security Advisor Inc. grew its stake in Microsoft by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Financial Security Advisor Inc. now owns 27,270 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $10,255,000 after purchasing an additional 452 shares in the last quarter. Rappaport Reiches Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Microsoft by 14.9% in the fourth quarter. Rappaport Reiches Capital Management LLC now owns 8,213 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $3,089,000 after purchasing an additional 1,067 shares in the last quarter. Bayesian Capital Management LP grew its stake in Microsoft by 60.1% in the fourth quarter. Bayesian Capital Management LP now owns 48,500 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $18,238,000 after purchasing an additional 18,200 shares in the last quarter. RNC Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Microsoft by 10.4% in the fourth quarter. RNC Capital Management LLC now owns 69,053 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $25,967,000 after purchasing an additional 6,484 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Warren Street Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in Microsoft by 16.5% in the fourth quarter. Warren Street Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 6,767 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $2,545,000 after purchasing an additional 956 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.