Brokerages Set Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) PT at $467.12

Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) have earned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the thirty-five research firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-three have given a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $467.12.

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on MSFT. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $500.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Friday, May 24th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $465.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Microsoft from $440.00 to $470.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Macquarie upped their price target on Microsoft from $460.00 to $475.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 17th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on Microsoft from $455.00 to $465.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 12th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Microsoft 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 sale, the chief marketing officer now owns 47,011 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,534,480.83. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Microsoft news, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $425.68, for a total transaction of $10,642,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 104,949 shares in the company, valued at approximately $44,674,690.32. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 244 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 3rd. The stock was 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 25,566 shares of company stock valued at $10,877,535 over the last 90 days. 0.03% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Microsoft

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Friedenthal Financial bought a new stake in Microsoft in the 4th quarter worth approximately $45,000. Neo Ivy Capital Management bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the 4th quarter worth approximately $58,000. Richardson Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 1,290.0% in the 1st quarter. Richardson Capital Management LLC now owns 139 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $59,000 after purchasing an additional 129 shares in the last quarter. PayPay Securities Corp grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 23.7% during the 4th quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 188 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $71,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bellevue Group AG lifted its stake in Microsoft by 47.5% in the first 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. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Stock Down 1.3 %

Microsoft stock opened at $446.95 on Friday. Microsoft has a 52 week low of $309.45 and a 52 week high of $456.17. The firm has a market cap of $3.32 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 0.89. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $424.11 and its 200 day moving average price is $410.15. 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 results on Thursday, April 25th. The software giant reported $2.94 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.81 by $0.13. Microsoft had a return on equity of 37.54% and a net margin of 36.43%. The firm had revenue of $61.86 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $60.86 billion. Microsoft’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.45 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Microsoft will post 11.77 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.67%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 15th. Microsoft’s payout ratio is 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.