Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Receives “Outperform” Rating from Evercore ISI

Evercore ISI restated their outperform rating on shares of Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) in a research note issued to investors on Monday morning, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a $432.00 target price on the software giant’s stock.

A number of other analysts have also weighed in on MSFT. DA Davidson restated a buy rating and issued a $415.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Monday, October 16th. Loop Capital assumed coverage on shares of Microsoft in a report on Tuesday, October 17th. They set a buy rating and a $425.00 price target on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $398.00 to $400.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 20th. Guggenheim raised shares of Microsoft from a sell rating to a neutral rating in a report on Monday, September 25th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reissued a buy rating and issued a $400.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a report on Monday, October 2nd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $388.06.

Microsoft Trading Up 2.1 %

Microsoft stock opened at $377.44 on Monday. Microsoft has a one year low of $219.35 and a one year high of $378.87. The company has a market cap of $2.81 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.54, a P/E/G ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 0.88. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $336.96 and a 200-day moving average of $332.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a current ratio of 1.66 and a quick ratio of 1.64.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 24th. The software giant reported $2.99 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.65 by $0.34. The business had revenue of $56.52 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $54.52 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.31% and a return on equity of 38.79%. Microsoft’s revenue was up 12.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.35 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Microsoft will post 11.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 14th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 15th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.79%. This is an increase from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. Microsoft’s payout ratio is presently 29.04%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 26,815 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $327.37, for a total value of $8,778,426.55. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 198,373 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $64,941,369.01. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 38,234 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on Friday, September 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $328.43, for a total transaction of $12,557,192.62. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 800,668 shares in the company, valued at $262,963,391.24. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 26,815 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $327.37, for a total value of $8,778,426.55. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 198,373 shares in the company, valued at approximately $64,941,369.01. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.03% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Microsoft

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in MSFT. Monumental Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in Microsoft in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Syverson Strege & Co increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 157.0% in the 1st quarter. Syverson Strege & Co now owns 203 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $58,000 after buying an additional 124 shares during the period. Atlantic Private Wealth LLC increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 534.5% in the 2nd quarter. Atlantic Private Wealth LLC now owns 184 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $63,000 after buying an additional 155 shares during the period. Hibernia Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the third quarter worth $69,000. Finally, Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 89.0% during the third quarter. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC now owns 223 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $70,000 after purchasing an additional 105 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 69.20% 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.