Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Price Target Cut to $472.00 by Analysts at Morgan Stanley

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) had its price target reduced by Morgan Stanley from $530.00 to $472.00 in a research report sent to investors on Wednesday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. They currently have an overweight rating on the software giant's stock.

MSFT has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Microsoft from $515.00 to $500.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday. Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on Microsoft from $515.00 to $475.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Guggenheim reissued a "neutral" rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Friday, January 24th. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $475.00 price objective (down previously from $500.00) on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Finally, Bank of America reduced their target price on Microsoft from $510.00 to $480.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $499.97.

Microsoft Trading Down 1.0 %

NASDAQ:MSFT traded down $3.83 on Wednesday, reaching $367.78. The stock had a trading volume of 20,940,221 shares, compared to its average volume of 21,282,398. The company has a market cap of $2.73 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.61, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.00. Microsoft has a 12-month low of $344.79 and a 12-month high of $468.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 1.34. The firm's fifty day moving average is $389.13 and its two-hundred day moving average is $413.21.

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 for the quarter, topping 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 last year, the company posted $2.93 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Microsoft will post 13.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed 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. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.90%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. Microsoft's payout ratio is currently 26.73%.

Institutional Trading of Microsoft

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in MSFT. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Microsoft in the 4th quarter worth about $44,343,058,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in Microsoft by 40,290.4% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 46,695,303 shares of the software giant's stock worth $17,528,950,000 after acquiring an additional 46,579,693 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 48,526.1% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 38,501,645 shares of the software giant's stock worth $16,567,258,000 after acquiring an additional 38,422,466 shares during the period. Proficio Capital Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 34,643.3% during the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 16,837,278 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $7,096,913,000 after acquiring an additional 16,788,816 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 16.1% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 83,787,746 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $35,316,535,000 after purchasing an additional 11,600,470 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.