The Goldman Sachs Group Lowers Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Price Target to $450.00

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) had its price target lowered by The Goldman Sachs Group from $500.00 to $450.00 in a report issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The Goldman Sachs Group currently has a buy rating on the software giant's stock.

MSFT has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Bank of America decreased their target price on Microsoft from $510.00 to $480.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and set a $500.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Piper Sandler dropped their target price on shares of Microsoft from $520.00 to $435.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Wedbush decreased their target price on shares of Microsoft from $550.00 to $475.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald restated an "overweight" rating and issued a $509.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $493.89.

Microsoft Stock Up 1.2 %

MSFT stock traded up $4.55 on Thursday, reaching $391.85. 18,959,931 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 21,169,050. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $384.93 and a 200-day simple moving average of $411.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 1.34. The company has a market cap of $2.91 trillion, a P/E ratio of 31.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.00. Microsoft has a one year low of $344.79 and a one year high of $468.35.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The software giant reported $3.23 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 in the prior year, the company earned $2.93 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Microsoft will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be given a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.85%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. Microsoft's payout ratio is currently 26.73%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Microsoft

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of MSFT. Newton One Investments LLC increased its stake in Microsoft by 66.7% in the 1st quarter. Newton One Investments LLC now owns 75 shares of the software giant's stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. Ball & Co Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at $31,000. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Microsoft in the fourth quarter worth $38,000. IFS Advisors LLC lifted its position in Microsoft by 53.8% during the fourth quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 100 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. Finally, LSV Asset Management purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft in the 4th quarter worth $44,000. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

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.