Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Up 0.8% – Here’s Why

Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) shot up 0.8% on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $413.99 and last traded at $412.97. 5,586,010 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 73% from the average session volume of 20,416,510 shares. The stock had previously closed at $409.54.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MSFT has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $550.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $485.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $500.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. DA Davidson downgraded shares of Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $475.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. Finally, New Street Research started coverage on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Monday, June 10th. They set a “buy” rating and a $570.00 target price on the stock. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $493.94.

Microsoft Stock Performance

The company has a fifty day moving average price of $417.97 and a 200 day moving average price of $424.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 1.27 and a quick ratio of 1.27. The stock has a market cap of $3.08 trillion, a P/E ratio of 35.75, a P/E/G ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 0.90.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $2.95 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.90 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $64.73 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $64.38 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.96% and a return on equity of 35.95%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.69 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Microsoft Co. 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 paid a $0.83 dividend. This is a positive change from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.80%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 28.74%.

Microsoft declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Monday, September 16th that permits the company to buyback $60.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the software giant to purchase up to 1.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $411.04, for a total value of $1,027,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 50,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,552,000. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 78,353 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 4th. The shares were 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 owns 864,327 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $353,189,942.01. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $411.04, for a total value of $1,027,600.00. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 50,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,552,000. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 190,629 shares of company stock valued at $77,916,485. 0.03% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Microsoft

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of MSFT. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC now owns 15,871 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $6,829,000 after acquiring an additional 212 shares during the period. Park Place Capital Corp lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 1.1% in the third quarter. Park Place Capital Corp now owns 16,604 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $7,145,000 after buying an additional 186 shares during the period. Atomi Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in Microsoft by 3.8% in the third quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. now owns 62,502 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $26,895,000 after purchasing an additional 2,301 shares in the last quarter. Tealwood Asset Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Tealwood Asset Management Inc. now owns 6,033 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $2,596,000 after buying an additional 49 shares during the period. Finally, Traveka Wealth LLC increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 0.9% during the third quarter. Traveka Wealth LLC now owns 14,514 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $6,245,000 after purchasing an additional 126 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% 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.