Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Trading 0.3% Higher

Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) shares shot up 0.3% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $413.10 and last traded at $409.93. 3,875,033 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 81% from the average session volume of 20,627,438 shares. The stock had previously closed at $408.90.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $520.00 to $506.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Macquarie boosted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $460.00 to $475.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 17th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Microsoft from $500.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $550.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, New Street Research assumed coverage on Microsoft in a research report on Monday, June 10th. They set a “buy” rating and a $570.00 price target on the stock. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $494.72.

Microsoft Price Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 1.27, a current ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The company’s fifty day moving average is $429.38 and its 200 day moving average is $422.91. The firm has a market cap of $3.04 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.49, a PEG ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.90.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $2.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.90 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $64.73 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $64.38 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 35.95% and a net margin of 35.96%. Microsoft’s quarterly revenue was up 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.69 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 13.04 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 15th will be given a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.73%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 15th. Microsoft’s payout ratio is presently 25.97%.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In related news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 14,398 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $417.41, for a total value of $6,009,869.18. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 786,933 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $328,473,703.53. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Microsoft

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at about $35,920,047,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Microsoft by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 664,908,939 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $250,032,357,000 after acquiring an additional 15,701,937 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB bought a new stake in Microsoft in the first quarter valued at approximately $5,587,119,000. TCI Fund Management Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $4,000,376,000. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 277.8% in the fourth quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 7,004,341 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $2,633,912,000 after purchasing an additional 5,150,160 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.13% 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.