Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Given New $500.00 Price Target at Mizuho

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) had its price objective cut by equities research analysts at Mizuho from $510.00 to $500.00 in a report released on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an "outperform" rating on the software giant's stock. Mizuho's price target would suggest a potential upside of 20.48% from the stock's current price.

A number of other analysts also recently commented on MSFT. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Microsoft from $540.00 to $530.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their target price on Microsoft from $515.00 to $500.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $495.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Loop Capital lifted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $509.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Microsoft currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $510.24.

Microsoft Stock Performance

MSFT traded down $27.34 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $414.99. The company's stock had a trading volume of 54,244,188 shares, compared to its average volume of 22,504,414. Microsoft has a twelve month low of $385.58 and a twelve month high of $468.35. The stock has a market cap of $3.09 trillion, a P/E ratio of 34.24, a PEG ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $432.55 and a 200 day simple moving average of $424.95. The company has a current ratio of 1.30, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The software giant reported $3.23 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.15 by $0.08. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.61% and a return on equity of 34.56%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.93 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Microsoft will post 12.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In related news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of the 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 transaction, the chief marketing officer now owns 49,352 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,080,578.32. This represents a 4.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $417.00, for a total transaction of $10,425,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 117,294 shares in the company, valued at $48,911,598. This trade represents a 17.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 41,200 shares of company stock worth $17,383,892. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. WFA Asset Management Corp lifted its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 216 shares during the last quarter. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 0.3% in 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 period. Nicholas Investment Partners LP grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 3.0% during the 2nd quarter. Nicholas Investment Partners LP now owns 39,743 shares of the software giant's stock worth $17,763,000 after purchasing an additional 1,164 shares in the last quarter. Crew Capital Management Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 2.1% during the second quarter. Crew Capital Management Ltd. now owns 10,860 shares of the software giant's stock worth $4,854,000 after purchasing an additional 225 shares during the period. Finally, Wealth Advisory Solutions LLC raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.3% in the second quarter. Wealth Advisory Solutions LLC now owns 12,379 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $5,533,000 after buying an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. 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.