Piper Sandler Cuts Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Price Target to $435.00

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) had its target price decreased by equities researchers at Piper Sandler from $520.00 to $435.00 in a note issued to investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an "overweight" rating on the software giant's stock. Piper Sandler's price objective points to a potential upside of 15.41% from the stock's current price.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Microsoft from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. Bank of America cut their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $510.00 to $480.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Scotiabank started coverage on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, March 20th. They set a "sector outperform" rating and a $470.00 target price on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on Microsoft from $515.00 to $475.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 7th. Finally, UBS Group decreased their price objective on Microsoft from $510.00 to $480.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $494.80.

Microsoft Stock Performance

MSFT traded up $10.11 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $376.93. The company had a trading volume of 7,684,790 shares, compared to its average volume of 21,189,285. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $386.38 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $411.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a current ratio of 1.35. Microsoft has a 12-month low of $344.79 and a 12-month high of $468.35. The stock has a market cap of $2.80 trillion, a PE ratio of 30.35, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.00.

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, beating the consensus estimate of $3.15 by $0.08. Microsoft had a return on equity of 33.36% and a net margin of 35.43%. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.93 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Microsoft will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Microsoft

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Ball & Co Wealth Management Inc. bought a new stake in Microsoft during the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. Newton One Investments LLC increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 66.7% in the first quarter. Newton One Investments LLC now owns 75 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares during the period. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter valued at about $38,000. IFS Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 53.8% during the fourth quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 100 shares of the software giant's stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares during the period. Finally, LSV Asset Management bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter worth about $44,000. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.

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