Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Initiates Share Buyback Program

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase program on Monday, September 16th, RTT News reports. The company plans to repurchase $60.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the software giant to buy up to 1.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MSFT has been the topic of several recent research reports. Citigroup cut their target price on Microsoft from $520.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. New Street Research began coverage on Microsoft in a research note on Monday, June 10th. They set a “buy” rating and a $570.00 target price on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $500.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. UBS Group cut their target price on Microsoft from $520.00 to $510.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $550.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $494.72.

Microsoft Trading Down 0.8 %

Microsoft stock opened at $435.27 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $420.92 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $424.03. The company has a quick ratio of 1.27, a current ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The stock has a market cap of $3.24 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 0.90. Microsoft has a 12 month low of $309.45 and a 12 month high of $468.35.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $2.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.90 by $0.05. Microsoft had a return on equity of 35.95% and a net margin of 35.96%. The business had revenue of $64.73 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $64.38 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.69 EPS. Microsoft’s quarterly revenue was up 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Microsoft will post 13.04 EPS 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 $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.76%. This is a positive change from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.97%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 78,353 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $408.63, for a total value of $32,017,386.39. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 864,327 shares in the company, valued at approximately $353,189,942.01. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 17,378 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $411.85, for a total value of $7,157,129.30. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 150,161 shares in the company, valued at approximately $61,843,807.85. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Satya Nadella sold 78,353 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $408.63, for a total value of $32,017,386.39. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 864,327 shares in the company, valued at $353,189,942.01. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 190,629 shares of company stock worth $77,916,485. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Company Profile

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.