Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Trading 2.4% Higher - What's Next?

Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report)'s share price shot up 2.4% during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $384.46 and last traded at $383.24. 4,084,059 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 81% from the average session volume of 21,193,684 shares. The stock had previously closed at $374.39.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Piper Sandler lowered their price target on Microsoft from $520.00 to $435.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Scotiabank initiated coverage on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. They issued a "sector outperform" rating and a $470.00 price target on the stock. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $530.00 to $472.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Tigress Financial increased their target price on Microsoft from $550.00 to $595.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, Bank of America reduced their price objective on Microsoft from $510.00 to $480.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-eight have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $493.13.

Microsoft Trading Up 1.2 %

The company has a market cap of $2.91 trillion, a P/E ratio of 31.55, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.00. The firm's 50 day moving average is $384.93 and its two-hundred day moving average is $411.41. The company has a quick ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The software giant reported $3.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 firm posted $2.93 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Stockholders 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.85%. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio is presently 26.73%.

Institutional Trading of Microsoft

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of MSFT. WFA Asset Management Corp boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 27.0% during the 1st quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 1,016 shares of the software giant's stock worth $427,000 after acquiring an additional 216 shares during the last quarter. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.3% during the 2nd quarter. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. now owns 12,658 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $5,658,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 2,799,261 shares of the software giant's stock worth $1,204,664,000 after purchasing an additional 49,735 shares during the period. Discipline Wealth Solutions LLC increased its stake in Microsoft by 410.4% in the third quarter. Discipline Wealth Solutions LLC now owns 2,659 shares of the software giant's stock worth $1,144,000 after purchasing an additional 2,138 shares during the period. Finally, Swedbank AB raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 0.4% during the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 13,689,356 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $5,890,530,000 after acquiring an additional 49,288 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.