Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Up 1%

Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) rose 1% during trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $417.49 and last traded at $417.14. Approximately 24,308,301 shares were traded during trading, an increase of 17% from the average daily volume of 20,766,529 shares. The stock had previously closed at $413.12.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have commented on MSFT shares. Bank of America increased their price target on Microsoft from $480.00 to $510.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $500.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Mizuho lifted their price objective on Microsoft from $450.00 to $480.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on Microsoft from $465.00 to $500.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, July 12th. Finally, New Street Research began coverage on Microsoft in a report on Monday, June 10th. They set a "buy" rating and a $570.00 price target for the company. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-two have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $494.72.

Microsoft Stock Performance

The stock has a market cap of $3.10 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.12, a P/E/G ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a current ratio of 1.27, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $431.08 and a 200-day simple moving average of $422.97.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $2.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.90 by $0.05. Microsoft had a return on equity of 35.95% and a net margin of 35.96%. The business had revenue of $64.73 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $64.38 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.69 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 13.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 15th will be paid a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.72%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 15th. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 25.97%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 14,398 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $417.41, for a total value of $6,009,869.18. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 786,933 shares in the company, valued at approximately $328,473,703.53. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.03% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Microsoft by 0.5% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 667,987,038 shares of the software giant's stock worth $281,035,506,000 after purchasing an additional 3,078,099 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth approximately $35,920,047,000. Capital International Investors grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 1.0% during the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 83,571,070 shares of the software giant's stock worth $35,160,020,000 after acquiring an additional 842,884 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.3% in the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 34,511,544 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $15,426,767,000 after purchasing an additional 97,075 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 25,505,600 shares of the software giant's stock worth $9,591,126,000 after purchasing an additional 277,881 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.