Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Stock Price Up 1.1% - Here's What Happened

Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) rose 1.1% during mid-day trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $434.48 and last traded at $429.27. Approximately 9,278,299 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 45% from the average daily volume of 16,863,047 shares. The stock had previously closed at $424.58.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have weighed in on MSFT shares. KeyCorp raised their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $490.00 to $505.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Sanford C. Bernstein cut their price target on Microsoft from $501.00 to $500.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Wedbush reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $550.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. TD Cowen dropped their target price on Microsoft from $495.00 to $475.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald initiated coverage on Microsoft in a research report on Friday. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $509.00 price target for the company. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $512.93.

Microsoft Stock Up 1.0 %

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 company's fifty day moving average price is $429.32 and its 200-day moving average price is $426.37. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.19 trillion, a PE ratio of 35.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.90.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.10 by $0.20. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.61% and a return on equity of 34.56%. The business had revenue of $65.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $64.57 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.99 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 12.92 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be issued a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.77%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. Microsoft's payout ratio is presently 27.39%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Christopher David Young sold 7,200 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 12th. The shares were 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 owns 103,366 shares in the company, valued at $43,792,039.56. This represents a 6.51 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 1,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $414.72, for a total transaction of $414,720.00. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 41,200 shares of company stock valued at $17,383,892 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Microsoft

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Net Worth Advisory Group purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft during the 3rd quarter valued at $2,645,000. Oak Ridge Investments LLC lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 7.6% in the third quarter. Oak Ridge Investments LLC now owns 263,534 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $113,399,000 after acquiring an additional 18,544 shares in the last quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 1.6% in the second quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 1,975,200 shares of the software giant's stock worth $882,816,000 after acquiring an additional 31,401 shares during the period. Jacobs & Co. CA raised its stake in Microsoft by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Jacobs & Co. CA now owns 96,021 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $41,318,000 after purchasing an additional 880 shares during the period. Finally, Focus Financial Network Inc. raised its stake in Microsoft by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. Focus Financial Network Inc. now owns 76,296 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $32,830,000 after purchasing an additional 1,489 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.