Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Up 0.9% Following Analyst Upgrade

Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report)'s share price rose 0.9% during mid-day trading on Thursday after Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on the stock from $475.00 to $515.00. Stifel Nicolaus currently has a buy rating on the stock. Microsoft traded as high as $442.97 and last traded at $441.34. Approximately 4,458,568 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 78% from the average daily volume of 20,514,602 shares. The stock had previously closed at $437.39.

Several other analysts have also commented on MSFT. Piper Sandler reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $470.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. 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 report on Friday, October 25th. TD Cowen decreased their price objective on Microsoft from $495.00 to $475.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. StockNews.com raised shares of Microsoft from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $500.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $508.46.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In other news, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $48,911,598. This trade represents a 17.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, December 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $447.41, for a total transaction of $1,118,525.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 49,352 shares in the company, valued at $22,080,578.32. This represents a 4.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 41,200 shares of company stock valued at $17,383,892. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 169.2% during the 2nd quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 70 shares of the software giant's stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $45,000. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in Microsoft during the third quarter worth $62,000. Innealta Capital LLC acquired a new position in Microsoft in the second quarter worth $75,000. Finally, Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in Microsoft by 10.1% during the third quarter. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 338 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $145,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Microsoft Stock Down 0.1 %

The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $426.19 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $428.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.30 and a quick ratio of 1.29. The company has a market capitalization of $3.25 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.06, a PEG ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 0.90.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 earnings per share 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 firm had revenue of $65.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $64.57 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.99 earnings per share. Microsoft's quarterly revenue was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 12.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be given a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.76%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio is presently 27.39%.

Microsoft announced that its board has authorized a share buyback plan on Monday, September 16th that allows the company to buyback $60.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the software giant to reacquire up to 1.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually an indication that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

Microsoft Company Profile

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.