Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Trading Up 0.4%

Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) shares were up 0.4% during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $431.68 and last traded at $431.05. Approximately 3,067,884 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 85% from the average daily volume of 20,590,127 shares. The stock had previously closed at $429.17.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently commented on MSFT shares. Mizuho upped their price objective on Microsoft from $450.00 to $480.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on Microsoft from $465.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 12th. New Street Research started coverage on Microsoft in a research note on Monday, June 10th. They set a “buy” rating and a $570.00 price objective for the company. TD Cowen increased their price target on Microsoft from $470.00 to $495.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. Finally, Oppenheimer increased their price target on Microsoft from $450.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, June 7th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $493.94.

Microsoft Stock Performance

The firm has a 50 day moving average of $419.69 and a 200-day moving average of $424.76. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.19 trillion, a PE ratio of 37.30, a P/E/G ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a current ratio of 1.27.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $2.95 earnings per share 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 company had revenue of $64.73 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $64.38 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.69 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 13.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.83 per share. This is a positive change from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.77%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is currently 25.97%.

Microsoft declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback plan on Monday, September 16th that authorizes the company to buyback $60.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the software giant to buy up to 1.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 78,353 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $408.63, for a total transaction of $32,017,386.39. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 864,327 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $353,189,942.01. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 78,353 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $408.63, for a total transaction of $32,017,386.39. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 864,327 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $353,189,942.01. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 40,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $402.59, for a total value of $16,103,600.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 544,847 shares in the company, valued at approximately $219,349,953.73. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 190,629 shares of company stock valued at $77,916,485. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Microsoft

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MSFT. Valmark Advisers Inc. grew its holdings in Microsoft by 4.8% in the 4th quarter. Valmark Advisers Inc. now owns 58,018 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $21,817,000 after buying an additional 2,674 shares during the last quarter. Account Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,946,000. Alexander Randolph Advisory Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the 4th quarter worth approximately $3,182,000. Dohj LLC lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 4.6% in the 4th quarter. Dohj LLC now owns 15,193 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $5,713,000 after acquiring an additional 665 shares during the period. Finally, Cedar Point Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the 4th quarter worth approximately $886,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

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.