Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Earns Buy Rating from Truist Financial

Truist Financial reiterated their buy rating on shares of Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) in a report published on Monday, Benzinga reports. Truist Financial currently has a $600.00 price target on the software giant’s stock.

Several other analysts have also recently commented on the stock. Raymond James upped their target price on shares of Microsoft from $400.00 to $450.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. DA Davidson reiterated a buy rating and set a $500.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday, March 15th. Mizuho upped their target price on shares of Microsoft from $420.00 to $450.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Friday, December 15th. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of Microsoft from $420.00 to $455.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Finally, KeyCorp initiated coverage on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. They issued an overweight rating and a $490.00 price objective for the company. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Microsoft has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $423.34.

Microsoft Stock Performance

NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $421.43 on Monday. Microsoft has a 1 year low of $272.05 and a 1 year high of $430.82. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $409.64 and a 200-day moving average of $373.65. The company has a current ratio of 1.22, a quick ratio of 1.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.13 trillion, a P/E ratio of 38.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 0.89.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 30th. The software giant reported $2.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.76 by $0.17. The firm had revenue of $62.02 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $61.14 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 38.40% and a net margin of 36.27%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.32 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Microsoft will post 11.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 16th will be paid a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 15th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.71%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 27.12%.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In related news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 45,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $411.78, for a total value of $18,530,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 574,129 shares in the company, valued at approximately $236,414,839.62. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Microsoft news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 3,303 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $406.12, for a total value of $1,341,414.36. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 570,826 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $231,823,855.12. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 45,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $411.78, for a total transaction of $18,530,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 574,129 shares in the company, valued at $236,414,839.62. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 1,070,258 shares of company stock worth $30,690,456. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Morris Financial Concepts Inc. raised its holdings in Microsoft by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Morris Financial Concepts Inc. now owns 2,663 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $1,001,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares during the period. Innova Wealth Partners increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Innova Wealth Partners now owns 4,239 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,594,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the period. Arkansas Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Arkansas Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,719 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $646,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the period. Sicart Associates LLC increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 2.9% during the fourth quarter. Sicart Associates LLC now owns 926 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $348,000 after purchasing an additional 26 shares during the period. Finally, Capital Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Capital Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,592 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $599,000 after purchasing an additional 26 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is owned by 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.