Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Stock Price Up 1.6% - Here's What Happened

Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report)'s share price traded up 1.6% during mid-day trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $384.84 and last traded at $384.72. 4,621,811 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 80% from the average session volume of 23,017,955 shares. The stock had previously closed at $378.77.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $525.00 to $510.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. StockNews.com cut shares of Microsoft from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $509.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Microsoft from $540.00 to $530.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $500.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $510.43.

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Microsoft Stock Up 2.6 %

The company has a quick ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The firm has a market cap of $2.89 trillion, a PE ratio of 31.29, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.92. The firm's 50 day moving average is $412.43 and its 200-day moving average is $420.55.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The software giant reported $3.23 earnings per share (EPS) 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 business earned $2.93 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Investors 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 yield of 0.85%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 26.73%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Microsoft

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of MSFT. Net Worth Advisory Group purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft in the 3rd quarter valued at $2,645,000. Oak Ridge Investments LLC increased its stake in Microsoft by 7.6% during the 3rd quarter. Oak Ridge Investments LLC now owns 263,534 shares of the software giant's stock worth $113,399,000 after buying an additional 18,544 shares during the period. Jacobs & Co. CA increased 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 worth $41,318,000 after buying an additional 880 shares during the period. Focus Financial Network Inc. increased 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 worth $32,830,000 after buying an additional 1,489 shares during the period. Finally, Campbell Wealth Management purchased a new stake in Microsoft during the 3rd quarter worth $3,314,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.