Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Receives Neutral Rating from DA Davidson

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "neutral" rating reiterated by analysts at DA Davidson in a report released on Thursday,Benzinga reports. They presently have a $425.00 price target on the software giant's stock. DA Davidson's target price points to a potential upside of 2.55% from the company's previous close.

Other analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. StockNews.com raised Microsoft from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $500.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on Microsoft from $540.00 to $530.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. TD Cowen cut their price target on Microsoft from $495.00 to $475.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Guggenheim reissued a "neutral" rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Friday, January 24th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Microsoft presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $510.24.

Microsoft Trading Down 6.3 %

Microsoft stock traded down $27.89 during trading on Thursday, hitting $414.44. The company's stock had a trading volume of 28,232,494 shares, compared to its average volume of 21,093,051. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.08 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.26, a P/E/G ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 0.90. 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's fifty day moving average is $432.55 and its 200 day moving average is $424.95. Microsoft has a 1-year low of $385.58 and a 1-year high of $468.35.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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 return on equity of 34.56% and a net margin of 35.61%. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.93 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Microsoft will post 12.9 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other news, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $417.00, for a total value of $10,425,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 117,294 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $48,911,598. This represents a 17.57 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Christopher David Young sold 7,200 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 103,366 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $43,792,039.56. The trade was a 6.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 41,200 shares of company stock valued at $17,383,892. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Microsoft

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of MSFT. WFA Asset Management Corp boosted its position in Microsoft by 27.0% in the 1st quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 1,016 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $427,000 after buying an additional 216 shares during the last quarter. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. boosted its position in Microsoft by 0.3% in the 2nd quarter. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. now owns 12,658 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $5,658,000 after buying an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Nicholas Investment Partners LP boosted its position in Microsoft by 3.0% in the 2nd quarter. Nicholas Investment Partners LP now owns 39,743 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $17,763,000 after buying an additional 1,164 shares during the last quarter. Crew Capital Management Ltd. boosted its position in Microsoft by 2.1% in the 2nd quarter. Crew Capital Management Ltd. now owns 10,860 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $4,854,000 after buying an additional 225 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wealth Advisory Solutions LLC boosted its position in Microsoft by 0.3% in the 2nd quarter. Wealth Advisory Solutions LLC now owns 12,379 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $5,533,000 after buying an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.

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