Jefferies Financial Group Cuts Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Price Target to $500.00

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) had its target price cut by Jefferies Financial Group from $550.00 to $500.00 in a research report sent to investors on Monday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have a buy rating on the software giant’s stock.

MSFT has been the topic of several other reports. StockNews.com lowered Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. Loop Capital raised their price objective on Microsoft from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $509.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $540.00 to $530.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $508.86.

Microsoft Stock Down 0.0 %

Shares of Microsoft stock opened at $382.14 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $2.84 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.77, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.92. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $402.24 and a 200-day simple moving average of $418.11. Microsoft has a 52-week low of $367.24 and a 52-week high of $468.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 1.34.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The software giant reported $3.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.15 by $0.08. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.43% and a return on equity of 33.36%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.93 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Microsoft will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.87%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. Microsoft’s payout ratio is 26.73%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Microsoft

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Lederer & Associates Investment Counsel CA boosted its stake in Microsoft by 1.4% in the 1st quarter. Lederer & Associates Investment Counsel CA now owns 25,901 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $9,723,000 after buying an additional 357 shares in the last quarter. Waller Financial Planning Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 23.5% during the first quarter. Waller Financial Planning Group Inc. now owns 1,823 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $684,000 after acquiring an additional 347 shares during the period. Marotta Asset Management boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 6.0% in the 1st quarter. Marotta Asset Management now owns 4,869 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $1,828,000 after purchasing an additional 274 shares in the last quarter. Kera Capital Partners Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 9.5% in the 1st quarter. Kera Capital Partners Inc. now owns 16,464 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $6,181,000 after purchasing an additional 1,425 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Marcum Wealth LLC increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 7.6% during the 1st quarter. Marcum Wealth LLC now owns 54,314 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $20,389,000 after purchasing an additional 3,852 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.