Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Price Target Lowered to $480.00 at UBS Group

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) had its price target cut by UBS Group from $510.00 to $480.00 in a research note released on Monday morning, MarketBeat reports. They currently have a buy rating on the software giant’s stock.

MSFT has been the subject of several other research reports. Wedbush decreased their price target on Microsoft from $550.00 to $475.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. DA Davidson upgraded shares of Microsoft from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $425.00 to $450.00 in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. Loop Capital increased their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $500.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Scotiabank assumed coverage on Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. They issued a “sector outperform” rating and a $470.00 target price for the company. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $499.97.

Microsoft Trading Down 3.7 %

Shares of NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $371.61 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $390.02 and its 200 day moving average price is $413.52. The company has a market cap of $2.76 trillion, a PE ratio of 29.92, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.00. Microsoft has a fifty-two week low of $344.79 and a fifty-two week high of $468.35.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The software giant reported $3.23 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.15 by $0.08. Microsoft had a return on equity of 33.36% and a net margin of 35.43%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.93 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Microsoft will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.89%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is currently 26.73%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Ball & Co Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Microsoft during the fourth quarter valued at $31,000. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the 4th quarter valued at about $38,000. IFS Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 53.8% in the 4th quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 100 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. LSV Asset Management acquired a new position in Microsoft in the fourth quarter worth approximately $44,000. Finally, Avondale Wealth Management raised its position in Microsoft by 144.4% during the fourth quarter. Avondale Wealth Management now owns 110 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $46,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.