Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Trading 0.1% Higher - Still a Buy?

Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) traded up 0.1% on Friday . The company traded as high as $389.23 and last traded at $387.62. Approximately 3,540,326 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 83% from the average daily volume of 21,219,865 shares. The stock had previously closed at $387.30.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have issued reports on MSFT. Wedbush cut their price target on Microsoft from $550.00 to $475.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 10th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $515.00 to $475.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 7th. Piper Sandler decreased their target price on Microsoft from $520.00 to $435.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Mizuho cut their price target on Microsoft from $510.00 to $500.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Tigress Financial upped their target price on Microsoft from $550.00 to $595.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $493.13.

Microsoft Stock Performance

The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The firm has a market cap of $2.88 trillion, a P/E ratio of 31.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.00. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $385.28 and its 200-day simple moving average is $411.53.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results 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 return on equity of 33.36% and a net margin of 35.43%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.93 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The company 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. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.86%. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio is presently 26.73%.

Institutional Trading of Microsoft

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of MSFT. Adamsbrown Wealth Consultants LLC increased its position in Microsoft by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. Adamsbrown Wealth Consultants LLC now owns 5,967 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $2,515,000 after buying an additional 130 shares in the last quarter. Oak Ridge Investments LLC grew its position in Microsoft by 7.6% during the 3rd quarter. Oak Ridge Investments LLC now owns 263,534 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $113,399,000 after purchasing an additional 18,544 shares during the last quarter. Mcdaniel Terry & Co. lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 6.1% in the fourth quarter. Mcdaniel Terry & Co. now owns 315,594 shares of the software giant's stock worth $133,023,000 after buying an additional 18,052 shares in the last quarter. Focus Financial Network Inc. lifted its position in Microsoft by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. Focus Financial Network Inc. now owns 76,296 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $32,830,000 after acquiring an additional 1,489 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Campbell Wealth Management purchased a new stake in Microsoft during the 3rd quarter valued at $3,314,000. 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.

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