Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Price Target Cut to $500.00 by Analysts at Mizuho

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) had its target price cut by Mizuho from $510.00 to $500.00 in a research report sent to investors on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have an outperform rating on the software giant’s stock.

Several other equities analysts also recently commented on MSFT. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Microsoft from $470.00 to $465.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Sanford C. Bernstein cut their price objective on Microsoft from $501.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 25th. KeyCorp upped their target price on Microsoft from $490.00 to $505.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Truist Financial reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $600.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Monday, October 28th. Finally, Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $550.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $510.96.

Microsoft Stock Up 0.0 %

Shares of Microsoft stock opened at $415.06 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $3.09 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.42, a P/E/G ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 0.90. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $432.53 and a 200-day simple moving average of $424.81. Microsoft has a 52-week low of $385.58 and a 52-week high of $468.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.30 and a quick ratio of 1.29.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The software giant reported $3.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.15 by $0.08. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.43% and a return on equity of 34.38%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.93 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Microsoft will post 12.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be issued a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.80%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. Microsoft’s payout ratio is 26.73%.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In related news, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 117,294 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $48,911,598. The trade was a 17.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Christopher David Young sold 7,200 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $423.66, for a total transaction of $3,050,352.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 103,366 shares in the company, valued at approximately $43,792,039.56. This represents a 6.51 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 41,200 shares of company stock valued at $17,383,892 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Microsoft

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at $38,000. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 35.7% in the third quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 95 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $39,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP acquired a new stake in Microsoft in the second quarter worth about $45,000. IFS Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Microsoft by 53.8% during the 4th quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 100 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Avondale Wealth Management lifted its position in Microsoft by 144.4% during the 4th quarter. Avondale Wealth Management now owns 110 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.