Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Stock Price Up 1.2% – Time to Buy?

Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) shares were up 1.2% on Monday . The stock traded as high as $414.78 and last traded at $414.79. Approximately 3,796,012 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 83% from the average daily volume of 21,828,688 shares. The stock had previously closed at $409.75.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on MSFT shares. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $550.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Sanford C. Bernstein cut their target price on shares of Microsoft from $501.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $520.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $509.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $510.96.

Microsoft Price Performance

The company has a market cap of $3.04 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.93, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $430.67 and its 200 day moving average price is $423.24.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The software giant reported $3.23 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.15 by $0.08. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.43% and a return on equity of 33.36%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.93 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 13.07 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be issued a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.81%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is presently 26.73%.

Insider Activity

In other Microsoft news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $423.48, for a total transaction of $423,480.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 56,511 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,931,278.28. This trade represents a 1.74 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $417.00, for a total transaction of $10,425,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 117,294 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $48,911,598. This trade represents a 17.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 34,000 shares of company stock worth $14,333,540 in the last 90 days. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Microsoft

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. increased its holdings in Microsoft by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. now owns 147,421 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $62,138,000 after acquiring an additional 3,451 shares in the last quarter. Allie Family Office LLC increased its holdings in Microsoft by 16.2% during the 4th quarter. Allie Family Office LLC now owns 2,661 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $1,119,000 after acquiring an additional 371 shares in the last quarter. Weitz Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in Microsoft by 12.0% during the 4th quarter. Weitz Investment Management Inc. now owns 45,850 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $19,326,000 after acquiring an additional 4,900 shares in the last quarter. Potomac Fund Management Inc. ADV purchased a new position in Microsoft during the 4th quarter valued at about $2,179,000. Finally, Groupama Asset Managment boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 196.6% during the 4th quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 2,910,288 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,226,686,000 after purchasing an additional 1,929,037 shares during 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.