Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Given New $520.00 Price Target at Piper Sandler

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) had its target price lifted by Piper Sandler from $470.00 to $520.00 in a report issued on Monday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “overweight” rating on the software giant’s stock. Piper Sandler’s price target indicates a potential upside of 22.83% from the company’s current price.

Several other brokerages also recently weighed in on MSFT. Loop Capital lifted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 23rd. BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on Microsoft from $500.00 to $495.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on Microsoft from $475.00 to $515.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Microsoft from $506.00 to $548.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Citigroup lowered their price target on Microsoft from $500.00 to $497.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $511.62.

Microsoft Trading Up 1.1 %

NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $423.35 on Monday. Microsoft has a 12 month low of $366.50 and a 12 month high of $468.35. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $428.62 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $428.08. The company has a current ratio of 1.30, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The company has a market cap of $3.15 trillion, a PE ratio of 34.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.90.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.10 by $0.20. Microsoft had a return on equity of 34.56% and a net margin of 35.61%. The business had revenue of $65.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $64.57 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.99 earnings per share. Microsoft’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Microsoft will post 12.93 earnings per share for the current year.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Microsoft news, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $417.00, for a total value of $10,425,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 117,294 shares in the company, valued at $48,911,598. This trade represents a 17.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Christopher David Young sold 7,200 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $423.66, for a total value of $3,050,352.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 103,366 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $43,792,039.56. This trade represents a 6.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 41,200 shares of company stock valued at $17,383,892 in the last ninety days. 0.03% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Microsoft

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 169.2% in the 2nd quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 70 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the 2nd quarter valued at $45,000. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the 3rd quarter worth $62,000. Innealta Capital LLC purchased a new position in Microsoft during the 2nd quarter worth $75,000. Finally, Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in Microsoft by 10.1% during the 3rd quarter. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 338 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $145,000 after buying an additional 31 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors 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.