Morgan Stanley Increases Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Price Target to $548.00

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) had its price objective lifted by investment analysts at Morgan Stanley from $506.00 to $548.00 in a research note issued to investors on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “overweight” rating on the software giant’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s price target would indicate a potential upside of 33.54% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other equities analysts also recently commented on MSFT. Wedbush restated an “underperform” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Friday, October 18th. DA Davidson downgraded shares of Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $475.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Monday, September 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $500.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their target price on shares of Microsoft from $515.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein decreased their price target on Microsoft from $501.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 25th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and twenty-six have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $503.03.

Microsoft Trading Up 1.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $410.37 on Thursday. Microsoft has a 12-month low of $344.77 and a 12-month high of $468.35. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $3.05 trillion, a P/E ratio of 33.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 0.90. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $420.69 and a two-hundred day moving average of $424.55.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.08 by $0.22. Microsoft had a return on equity of 35.73% and a net margin of 35.61%. The firm had revenue of $65.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $64.57 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.99 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Microsoft will post 13.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase program on Monday, September 16th that authorizes the company to buyback $60.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the software giant to reacquire up to 1.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In other news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 14,398 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $417.41, for a total transaction of $6,009,869.18. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 786,933 shares in the company, valued at approximately $328,473,703.53. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In related news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 14,398 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $417.41, for a total transaction 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 approximately $328,473,703.53. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 17,378 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $411.85, for a total transaction of $7,157,129.30. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 150,161 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $61,843,807.85. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 190,629 shares of company stock worth $77,916,485. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Microsoft

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Rebalance LLC raised its stake in Microsoft by 0.7% in the second quarter. Rebalance LLC now owns 3,451 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $1,542,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. First National Bank Sioux Falls increased its holdings in Microsoft by 0.4% in the 2nd quarter. First National Bank Sioux Falls now owns 6,340 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $2,834,000 after buying an additional 24 shares during the period. BCK Partners Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. BCK Partners Inc. now owns 1,353 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $582,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares during the period. Doheny Asset Management CA boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. Doheny Asset Management CA now owns 6,397 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $2,691,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Flagship Private Wealth LLC increased its stake in Microsoft by 2.8% in the second quarter. Flagship Private Wealth LLC now owns 913 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $408,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares during 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.