Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Receives $508.46 Consensus Target Price from Brokerages

Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) has been assigned an average rating of "Moderate Buy" from the twenty-eight analysts that are covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and twenty-six have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month target price among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $508.46.

MSFT has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Microsoft from $506.00 to $548.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $500.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Piper Sandler reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $470.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of Microsoft from $470.00 to $465.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Citigroup cut their price objective on Microsoft from $500.00 to $497.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd.

Microsoft Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ:MSFT traded down $0.43 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $436.60. 54,224,020 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 20,730,301. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The business's 50 day moving average is $427.02 and its two-hundred day moving average is $428.32. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.25 trillion, a PE ratio of 36.02, a P/E/G ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.90. Microsoft has a one year low of $366.50 and a one year high of $468.35.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly 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 business had revenue of $65.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $64.57 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 34.56% and a net margin of 35.61%. Microsoft's quarterly revenue was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.99 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Microsoft will post 12.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be given a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.76%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 27.39%.

Microsoft declared that its board has initiated a stock buyback plan on Monday, September 16th that authorizes the company to buyback $60.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the software giant to reacquire up to 1.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often a sign that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Christopher David Young sold 7,200 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $423.66, for a total value of $3,050,352.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 103,366 shares in the company, valued at $43,792,039.56. This trade represents a 6.51 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 1,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $414.72, for a total value of $414,720.00. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer now owns 57,511 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $23,850,961.92. This trade represents a 1.71 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 41,200 shares of company stock valued at $17,383,892 in the last 90 days. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Microsoft

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 169.2% in the 2nd quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 70 shares of the software giant's stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP bought a new stake in Microsoft during the second quarter valued at about $45,000. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Microsoft in the third quarter worth about $62,000. Innealta Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Microsoft in the second quarter worth about $75,000. Finally, Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 10.1% during the 3rd quarter. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 338 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $145,000 after buying an additional 31 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

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.