Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Hits New 52-Week High Following Analyst Upgrade

Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) shares hit a new 52-week high during trading on Monday after Citigroup raised their price target on the stock from $495.00 to $520.00. Citigroup currently has a buy rating on the stock. Microsoft traded as high as $452.75 and last traded at $450.33, with a volume of 3578785 shares. The stock had previously closed at $449.78.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently commented on MSFT. Evercore ISI increased their target price on Microsoft from $475.00 to $485.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on Microsoft from $450.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on Microsoft from $455.00 to $465.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, April 12th. StockNews.com lowered Microsoft from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 22nd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and set a $500.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday, May 24th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-three have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $467.12.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 244 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $415.53, for a total transaction of $101,389.32. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer now owns 47,011 shares of the company's stock, valued at $19,534,480.83. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other Microsoft news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 244 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $415.53, for a total transaction of $101,389.32. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer now owns 47,011 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,534,480.83. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $425.68, for a total value of $10,642,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 104,949 shares in the company, valued at approximately $44,674,690.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 25,566 shares of company stock valued at $10,877,535 over the last quarter. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Microsoft

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of MSFT. Friedenthal Financial purchased a new stake in Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $45,000. Neo Ivy Capital Management purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft in the 4th quarter worth $58,000. Richardson Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 1,290.0% in the 1st quarter. Richardson Capital Management LLC now owns 139 shares of the software giant's stock worth $59,000 after buying an additional 129 shares during the period. PayPay Securities Corp raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 23.7% in the 4th quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 188 shares of the software giant's stock worth $71,000 after buying an additional 36 shares during the period. Finally, Bellevue Group AG raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 47.5% in the 1st quarter. Bellevue Group AG now owns 180 shares of the software giant's stock worth $76,000 after buying an additional 58 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Microsoft Stock Down 0.5 %

The company has a current ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.33 trillion, a PE ratio of 38.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 0.89. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $420.65 and a two-hundred day moving average of $407.98.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The software giant reported $2.94 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.81 by $0.13. Microsoft had a return on equity of 37.54% and a net margin of 36.43%. The business had revenue of $61.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $60.86 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.45 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 17.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 11.77 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 15th will be issued a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 15th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.67%. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio is currently 25.97%.

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.