Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Receives Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) has been assigned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the thirty-three brokerages that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-two have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $494.72.

A number of research analysts recently commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $506.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Tuesday. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Microsoft from $500.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Argus increased their price target on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $526.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $485.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, New Street Research began coverage on Microsoft in a research note on Monday, June 10th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $570.00 price objective on the stock.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In other news, CFO Amy Hood sold 38,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $410.55, for a total transaction of $15,600,900.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 496,369 shares in the company, valued at $203,784,292.95. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In related news, CFO Amy Hood sold 38,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $410.55, for a total transaction of $15,600,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 496,369 shares in the company, valued at $203,784,292.95. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 40,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $402.59, for a total value of $16,103,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 544,847 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $219,349,953.73. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 190,629 shares of company stock valued at $77,916,485 in the last ninety days. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Microsoft

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc lifted its stake in Microsoft by 169.2% in the second quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 70 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft during the second quarter valued at about $45,000. Neo Ivy Capital Management purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter worth $58,000. Richardson Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Microsoft by 1,290.0% in the 1st quarter. Richardson Capital Management LLC now owns 139 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $59,000 after acquiring an additional 129 shares during the last quarter. Finally, PayPay Securities Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 23.7% during 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 during the period. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of MSFT opened at $435.15 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 1.27 and a quick ratio of 1.27. Microsoft has a 12 month low of $309.45 and a 12 month high of $468.35. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $422.31 and a 200 day moving average price of $423.73. The company has a market cap of $3.23 trillion, a P/E ratio of 37.68, a PEG ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 0.90.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $2.95 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.90 by $0.05. Microsoft had a return on equity of 35.95% and a net margin of 35.96%. The firm had revenue of $64.73 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $64.38 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.69 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that Microsoft will post 13.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be given a dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.76%. This is a positive change from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 25.97%.

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.