Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Now Covered by Analysts at New Street Research

New Street Research began coverage on shares of Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) in a research note released on Monday, Marketbeat reports. The brokerage issued a buy rating and a $570.00 price target on the software giant's stock.

MSFT has been the subject of several other reports. Raymond James reissued an outperform rating and issued a $480.00 target price (up from $450.00) on shares of Microsoft in a report on Friday, April 26th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on Microsoft from $455.00 to $465.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Microsoft from $440.00 to $470.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on Microsoft from $465.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Monday, April 1st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reissued a buy rating and issued a $455.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-three have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $463.69.

Microsoft Stock Up 0.9 %

NASDAQ MSFT traded up $4.02 during trading on Monday, reaching $427.87. 13,983,346 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 21,129,012. The stock has a market cap of $3.18 trillion, a P/E ratio of 37.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a current ratio of 1.24. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $416.26 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $403.12. Microsoft has a 1 year low of $309.45 and a 1 year high of $433.60.

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

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 16th will be paid a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.70%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 15th. Microsoft's payout ratio is currently 25.97%.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In related news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 244 shares of the company'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 value of $101,389.32. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer now owns 47,011 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $19,534,480.83. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other Microsoft news, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $425.68, for a total transaction of $10,642,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 104,949 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $44,674,690.32. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 244 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $415.53, for a total value of $101,389.32. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 47,011 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,534,480.83. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 25,566 shares of company stock valued at $10,877,535. 0.03% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in MSFT. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in Microsoft by 9.0% in the 3rd quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 67,011 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $21,159,000 after purchasing an additional 5,530 shares in the last quarter. Leisure Capital Management increased its holdings in Microsoft by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Leisure Capital Management now owns 23,175 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $7,317,000 after purchasing an additional 116 shares in the last quarter. Ninepoint Partners LP increased its holdings in Microsoft by 7.9% in the 3rd quarter. Ninepoint Partners LP now owns 8,966 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $2,831,000 after purchasing an additional 653 shares in the last quarter. Arista Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 13.4% during the third quarter. Arista Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,421 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $1,080,000 after acquiring an additional 404 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cook Wealth Management Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 65.3% during the third quarter. Cook Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 5,190 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $1,702,000 after acquiring an additional 2,050 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

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.