Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Receives Consensus Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from Analysts

Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) have received a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" from the thirty ratings firms that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-eight have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1-year target price among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $508.86.

Several research firms recently commented on MSFT. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $500.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $509.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Tigress Financial raised their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $550.00 to $595.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Guggenheim reiterated a "neutral" rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, UBS Group cut their price target on shares of Microsoft from $525.00 to $510.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 30th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MSFT. BCK Partners Inc. raised its stake in Microsoft by 1.8% in the third quarter. BCK Partners Inc. now owns 1,353 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $582,000 after buying an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. Muirfield Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Muirfield Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,427 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $1,866,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. Retirement Financial Solutions LLC increased its stake in Microsoft by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Retirement Financial Solutions LLC now owns 1,050 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $443,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. Sequent Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Microsoft by 1.3% during the third quarter. Sequent Asset Management LLC now owns 1,983 shares of the software giant's stock worth $853,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cypress Point Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Cypress Point Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,208 shares of the software giant's stock worth $1,380,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Remove Ads

Microsoft Stock Down 0.9 %

NASDAQ:MSFT traded down $3.41 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $375.39. 35,114,161 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 20,581,628. The company has a fifty day moving average of $405.52 and a 200 day moving average of $419.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a current ratio of 1.35. Microsoft has a twelve month low of $367.31 and a twelve month high of $468.35. The company has a market capitalization of $2.79 trillion, a P/E ratio of 30.22, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.92.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly 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 quarter last year, the business posted $2.93 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Microsoft will post 13.08 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.88%. Microsoft's payout ratio is 26.73%.

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.