Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Trading 1.6% Higher – What’s Next?

Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)’s stock price traded up 1.6% during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $420.21 and last traded at $417.86. 8,666,255 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 57% from the average session volume of 20,356,742 shares. The stock had previously closed at $411.46.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. UBS Group lowered their price target on Microsoft from $510.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Argus raised their target price on Microsoft from $475.00 to $526.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $497.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $495.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Microsoft from $506.00 to $548.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and twenty-six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $503.03.

Microsoft Price Performance

The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $420.74 and its 200 day simple moving average is $424.80. The company has a market capitalization of $3.12 trillion, a PE ratio of 34.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released 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. The firm had revenue of $65.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $64.57 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 34.56% and a net margin of 35.61%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.99 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 12.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be given a dividend of $0.83 per share. This is an increase from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.79%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is presently 24.75%.

Microsoft declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback plan on Monday, September 16th that allows the company to buyback $60.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the software giant to purchase up to 1.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In other news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 78,353 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $408.63, for a total value of $32,017,386.39. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 864,327 shares in the company, valued at approximately $353,189,942.01. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 78,353 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $408.63, for a total transaction of $32,017,386.39. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 864,327 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $353,189,942.01. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Amy Hood sold 38,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $410.55, for a total transaction of $15,600,900.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 496,369 shares in the company, valued at $203,784,292.95. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 190,629 shares of company stock valued at $77,916,485 over the last ninety days. 0.03% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Microsoft

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in MSFT. Viewpoint Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Microsoft by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. Viewpoint Capital Management LLC now owns 13,442 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $5,655,000 after acquiring an additional 51 shares during the period. Reliant Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.5% in the first quarter. Reliant Investment Management LLC now owns 12,727 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $5,355,000 after purchasing an additional 68 shares during the period. Trifecta Capital Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 2.5% during the first quarter. Trifecta Capital Advisors LLC now owns 55,849 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $23,497,000 after purchasing an additional 1,349 shares in the last quarter. Garrison Bradford & Associates Inc. lifted its stake in Microsoft by 7.9% in the 1st quarter. Garrison Bradford & Associates Inc. now owns 17,279 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $7,270,000 after buying an additional 1,265 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Griffin Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in Microsoft by 1.3% during the 1st quarter. Griffin Asset Management Inc. now owns 82,769 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $34,822,000 after buying an additional 1,074 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.