Morgan Stanley Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Stock Price

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) had its target price reduced by equities research analysts at Morgan Stanley from $540.00 to $530.00 in a note issued to investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an "overweight" rating on the software giant's stock. Morgan Stanley's price target points to a potential upside of 27.71% from the stock's previous close.

Several other analysts have also weighed in on the stock. Truist Financial reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $600.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Monday, October 28th. KeyCorp increased their price target on Microsoft from $490.00 to $505.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Citigroup lowered their price objective on Microsoft from $500.00 to $497.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on Microsoft from $500.00 to $495.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Guggenheim restated a "neutral" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $510.24.

Microsoft Trading Down 6.2 %

Shares of MSFT traded down $27.34 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $414.99. 54,244,188 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 22,504,414. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $432.55 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $424.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a current ratio of 1.30. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.09 trillion, a PE ratio of 34.24, a PEG ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 0.90. Microsoft has a 52 week low of $385.58 and a 52 week high of $468.35.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The software giant reported $3.23 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.15 by $0.08. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.61% and a return on equity of 34.56%. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.93 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Microsoft will post 12.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Microsoft news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 1,000 shares of Microsoft 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 directly owns 57,511 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,850,961.92. The trade was a 1.71 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $417.00, for a total transaction of $10,425,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 117,294 shares in the company, valued at $48,911,598. This represents a 17.57 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 41,200 shares of company stock valued at $17,383,892. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Microsoft

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of MSFT. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 2.0% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 165,024,812 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $70,790,682,000 after buying an additional 3,264,648 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 4.1% during the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 54,590,791 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $23,490,417,000 after acquiring an additional 2,125,030 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Microsoft by 1.4% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 47,229,125 shares of the software giant's stock worth $20,322,513,000 after purchasing an additional 652,493 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 48,526.1% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 38,501,645 shares of the software giant's stock worth $16,567,258,000 after purchasing an additional 38,422,466 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 1.1% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 38,420,657 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $16,104,959,000 after purchasing an additional 406,940 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other 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.