Guggenheim Reaffirms Neutral Rating for Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT)‘s stock had its “neutral” rating restated by equities research analysts at Guggenheim in a research report issued on Friday,Benzinga reports.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently weighed in on MSFT. Oppenheimer lowered shares of Microsoft from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Microsoft from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. KeyCorp raised their target price on Microsoft from $490.00 to $505.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on Microsoft from $475.00 to $515.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-seven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $512.66.

Microsoft Trading Down 0.2 %

MSFT traded down $0.94 on Friday, reaching $445.77. 4,119,856 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 18,617,836. The company has a market cap of $3.31 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.74, a PEG ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a current ratio of 1.30. Microsoft has a twelve month low of $385.58 and a twelve month high of $468.35. The company’s 50 day moving average is $430.47 and its 200-day moving average is $425.69.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.10 by $0.20. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.61% and a return on equity of 34.56%. The business had revenue of $65.59 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $64.57 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.99 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Microsoft will post 12.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other Microsoft news, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $417.00, for a total value of $10,425,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 117,294 shares in the company, valued at approximately $48,911,598. The trade was a 17.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Christopher David Young sold 7,200 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $423.66, for a total value of $3,050,352.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 103,366 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $43,792,039.56. This trade represents a 6.51 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 41,200 shares of company stock worth $17,383,892. 0.03% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Microsoft

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Precision Wealth Strategies LLC raised its holdings in Microsoft by 31.0% during the 4th quarter. Precision Wealth Strategies LLC now owns 6,964 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $2,935,000 after buying an additional 1,646 shares during the period. Deroy & Devereaux Private Investment Counsel Inc. increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Deroy & Devereaux Private Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 46,550 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $19,621,000 after acquiring an additional 754 shares in the last quarter. Comprehensive Financial Consultants Institutional Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Comprehensive Financial Consultants Institutional Inc. now owns 14,695 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $6,194,000 after acquiring an additional 318 shares during the period. Yoder Wealth Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 18.1% in the 4th quarter. Yoder Wealth Management Inc. now owns 3,378 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $1,424,000 after acquiring an additional 517 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its position in Microsoft by 8.8% during the 4th quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 381,170 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $160,663,000 after purchasing an additional 30,814 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.