Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) PT Lowered to $470.00

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) had its price target reduced by Piper Sandler from $485.00 to $470.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Friday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The brokerage currently has an “overweight” rating on the software giant’s stock. Piper Sandler’s price objective suggests a potential upside of 12.40% from the company’s current price.

Several other brokerages also recently issued reports on MSFT. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $500.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Truist Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $600.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $506.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Tuesday, September 17th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of Microsoft from $520.00 to $510.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and twenty-eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Microsoft presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $495.68.

Microsoft Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $418.16 on Friday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $419.66 and a 200 day simple moving average of $424.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a current ratio of 1.27. The company has a market capitalization of $3.11 trillion, a P/E ratio of 36.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.90. Microsoft has a 52-week low of $324.39 and a 52-week high of $468.35.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $2.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.90 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $64.73 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $64.38 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.96% and a return on equity of 35.95%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.69 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Microsoft will post 13.02 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft declared that its board has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Monday, September 16th that permits the company to repurchase $60.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the software giant to buy up to 1.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 14,398 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on Friday, August 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $417.41, for a total value of $6,009,869.18. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 786,933 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $328,473,703.53. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Microsoft news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 14,398 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on Friday, August 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $417.41, for a total value of $6,009,869.18. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 786,933 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $328,473,703.53. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Amy Hood sold 38,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $410.55, for a total transaction of $15,600,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 496,369 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $203,784,292.95. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 190,629 shares of company stock worth $77,916,485 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Microsoft

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 169.2% during the second quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 70 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 44 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP bought a new stake in Microsoft in the 2nd quarter worth about $45,000. Richardson Capital Management LLC grew its position in Microsoft by 1,290.0% in the 1st quarter. Richardson Capital Management LLC now owns 139 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $59,000 after purchasing an additional 129 shares in the last quarter. Innealta Capital LLC bought a new stake in Microsoft in the 2nd quarter worth about $75,000. Finally, Bellevue Group AG grew its position in Microsoft by 47.5% in the 1st quarter. Bellevue Group AG now owns 180 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $76,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.