Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Trading Up 1.5% Following Analyst Upgrade

Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)’s share price shot up 1.5% during mid-day trading on Thursday after Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on the stock from $500.00 to $515.00. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an overweight rating on the stock. Microsoft traded as high as $427.46 and last traded at $424.63. 7,343,853 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 65% from the average session volume of 20,708,861 shares. The stock had previously closed at $418.35.

MSFT has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $485.00 target price (up previously from $465.00) on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. TD Cowen upped their target price on Microsoft from $470.00 to $495.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Microsoft from $440.00 to $470.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Truist Financial restated a “buy” rating and issued a $600.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a report on Monday, June 17th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $465.00 to $489.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-three have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $487.33.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $425.68, for a total value of $10,642,000.00. Following the completion of 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 at this hyperlink. In other news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 244 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $415.53, for a total transaction of $101,389.32. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 47,011 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,534,480.83. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $425.68, for a total value 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. Insiders sold a total of 25,566 shares of company stock worth $10,877,535 in the last ninety days. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Microsoft

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of MSFT. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc raised its holdings in Microsoft by 169.2% in the second quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 70 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares during the period. Friedenthal Financial acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $45,000. Neo Ivy Capital Management bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth $58,000. Richardson Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Microsoft by 1,290.0% in the 1st quarter. Richardson Capital Management LLC now owns 139 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $59,000 after purchasing an additional 129 shares during the period. Finally, PayPay Securities Corp raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 23.7% in the 4th quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 188 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $71,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Microsoft Stock Up 0.9 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a current ratio of 1.24 and a quick ratio of 1.23. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $440.19 and its two-hundred day moving average is $421.43. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.14 trillion, a P/E ratio of 36.76, a PEG ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 0.89.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $2.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.90 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $64.73 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $64.38 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 37.13% and a net margin of 35.96%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.69 EPS. Research analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 13.17 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 15th will be given a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.71%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 15th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is 25.97%.

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.