Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) had its price target cut by analysts at Jefferies Financial Group from $550.00 to $500.00 in a report issued on Monday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a "buy" rating on the software giant's stock. Jefferies Financial Group's price target would indicate a potential upside of 30.82% from the company's current price.
Other equities analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Microsoft from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Loop Capital upped their target price on Microsoft from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $520.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a report on Monday, January 27th. Wedbush restated an "outperform" rating and set a $550.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, Scotiabank assumed coverage on Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. They set a "sector outperform" rating and a $470.00 price objective for the company. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-eight have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $508.86.
Check Out Our Latest Stock Report on Microsoft
Microsoft Trading Up 1.8 %
Shares of NASDAQ MSFT traded up $6.80 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $382.19. The company's stock had a trading volume of 19,648,293 shares, compared to its average volume of 20,595,340. The business's 50 day moving average is $404.45 and its two-hundred day moving average is $418.77. The firm has a market cap of $2.84 trillion, a P/E ratio of 30.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. Microsoft has a 12-month low of $367.24 and a 12-month high of $468.35.
Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The software giant reported $3.23 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 quarter last year, the firm earned $2.93 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Microsoft will post 13.08 EPS for the current year.
Institutional Investors Weigh In On Microsoft
A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 684,071,705 shares of the software giant's stock worth $288,336,224,000 after buying an additional 10,431,988 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 168,128,024 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $70,720,874,000 after purchasing an additional 3,103,212 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at $44,343,058,000. Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 16.1% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 83,787,746 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $35,316,535,000 after purchasing an additional 11,600,470 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 9.8% during the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 59,961,337 shares of the software giant's stock worth $25,273,704,000 after purchasing an additional 5,370,546 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
About Microsoft
(
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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.
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