Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Trading 1.4% Higher – What’s Next?

Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) shot up 1.4% on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $384.42 and last traded at $385.54. 7,673,573 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 67% from the average session volume of 22,951,582 shares. The stock had previously closed at $380.16.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have commented on MSFT. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of Microsoft from $540.00 to $530.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $550.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $525.00 to $510.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $500.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-six have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $509.54.

Microsoft Stock Performance

The business has a 50 day moving average of $415.50 and a 200-day moving average of $421.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a current ratio of 1.35. The company has a market capitalization of $2.85 trillion, a P/E ratio of 30.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.92.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The software giant reported $3.23 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 firm posted $2.93 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Microsoft

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Net Worth Advisory Group bought a new position in Microsoft during the third quarter valued at approximately $2,645,000. Oak Ridge Investments LLC raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 7.6% in the 3rd quarter. Oak Ridge Investments LLC now owns 263,534 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $113,399,000 after acquiring an additional 18,544 shares in the last quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 1.6% in the 2nd quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 1,975,200 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $882,816,000 after buying an additional 31,401 shares during the period. Jacobs & Co. CA increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 0.9% during the third quarter. Jacobs & Co. CA now owns 96,021 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $41,318,000 after purchasing an additional 880 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Focus Financial Network Inc. grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 2.0% in the third quarter. Focus Financial Network Inc. now owns 76,296 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $32,830,000 after acquiring an additional 1,489 shares during the last quarter. 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.