Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Trading Up 1.8%

Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)’s stock price was up 1.8% during trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $405.74 and last traded at $405.65. Approximately 4,194,055 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 80% from the average daily volume of 20,967,723 shares. The stock had previously closed at $398.43.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have commented on MSFT shares. Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of Microsoft from $520.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on shares of Microsoft from $465.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 12th. Stifel Nicolaus restated a “buy” rating and issued a $455.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Raymond James restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $480.00 price target (up from $450.00) on shares of Microsoft in a report on Friday, April 26th. Finally, Truist Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $600.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a report on Monday, June 17th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Microsoft has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $493.06.

Microsoft Stock Up 0.8 %

The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $437.21 and its 200 day moving average price is $421.77. The stock has a market cap of $3.02 trillion, a P/E ratio of 35.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a current ratio of 1.27, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $2.95 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.90 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $64.73 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.69 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 13.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.74%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 15th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is currently 25.97%.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In related news, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $425.68, for a total transaction of $10,642,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 104,949 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $44,674,690.32. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 322 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $416.60, for a total value of $134,145.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 47,255 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,686,433. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $425.68, for a total transaction of $10,642,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 104,949 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $44,674,690.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 25,566 shares of company stock valued at $10,877,535. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Financial & Tax Architects LLC lifted its position in Microsoft by 11.9% during the 2nd quarter. Financial & Tax Architects LLC now owns 5,061 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $2,262,000 after acquiring an additional 537 shares during the period. Cranbrook Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Microsoft by 45.3% during the 2nd quarter. Cranbrook Wealth Management LLC now owns 7,097 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $3,172,000 after purchasing an additional 2,214 shares in the last quarter. L & S Advisors Inc increased its stake in Microsoft by 22.9% during the 2nd quarter. L & S Advisors Inc now owns 59,381 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $26,540,000 after purchasing an additional 11,082 shares in the last quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Microsoft by 3.2% during the 2nd quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC now owns 200,591 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $89,654,000 after purchasing an additional 6,207 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fairway Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Microsoft during the 2nd quarter valued at about $262,000. 71.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.