Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Receives Buy Rating from Truist Financial

Truist Financial reiterated their buy rating on shares of Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) in a report issued on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $600.00 price target on the software giant’s stock.

MSFT has been the topic of a number of other research reports. 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. New Street Research initiated coverage on Microsoft in a report on Monday, June 10th. They set a buy rating and a $570.00 price target for the company. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Microsoft from $500.00 to $515.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Citigroup decreased their target price on Microsoft from $520.00 to $500.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, DA Davidson downgraded shares of Microsoft from a buy rating to a neutral rating and set a $475.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Monday, September 23rd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $493.94.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of MSFT stock opened at $414.71 on Tuesday. 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 has a 52 week low of $323.18 and a 52 week high of $468.35. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $417.97 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $424.89. The company has a market capitalization of $3.08 trillion, a P/E ratio of 35.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 0.90.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $2.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $64.38 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.69 EPS. Microsoft’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that Microsoft will post 13.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft declared that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Monday, September 16th that authorizes the company to repurchase $60.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the software giant to reacquire up to 1.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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 0.80%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. This is a boost from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. Microsoft’s payout ratio is currently 28.74%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $411.04, for a total transaction 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 $20,552,000. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 78,353 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 864,327 shares in the company, valued at $353,189,942.01. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 10th. The shares were 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 owns 50,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,552,000. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 190,629 shares of company stock worth $77,916,485. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Bayesian Capital Management LP lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 60.1% during the fourth quarter. Bayesian Capital Management LP now owns 48,500 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $18,238,000 after purchasing an additional 18,200 shares during the period. Warren Street Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 16.5% during the 4th quarter. Warren Street Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 6,767 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $2,545,000 after buying an additional 956 shares during the period. Czech National Bank lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 1,307,487 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $550,086,000 after buying an additional 5,253 shares during the period. True Link Financial Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 296.7% in the 1st quarter. True Link Financial Advisors LLC now owns 3,027 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $1,274,000 after buying an additional 2,264 shares during the last quarter. Finally, United Advisor Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at about $9,538,000. 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.