Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Receives Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) have earned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the thirty-four analysts that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and thirty have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $513.13.

Several analysts have recently issued reports on MSFT shares. KeyCorp reaffirmed a “sector weight” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $430.00 to $494.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Evercore ISI set a $515.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Microsoft from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In other news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 6,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $433.17, for a total value of $2,599,020.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 471,036 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $204,038,664.12. The trade was a 1.26% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Amy Coleman sold 13,243 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $452.01, for a total value of $5,985,968.43. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 43,100 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,481,631. The trade was a 23.50% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 131,743 shares of company stock valued at $58,375,673. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Microsoft

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Fosun International Ltd increased its position in Microsoft by 0.3% during the 1st quarter. Fosun International Ltd now owns 6,633 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $2,490,000 after buying an additional 23 shares in the last quarter. Muirfield Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Muirfield Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,427 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $1,866,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. Retirement Financial Solutions LLC increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Retirement Financial Solutions LLC now owns 1,050 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $443,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares during the period. Gagnon Securities LLC raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 3.5% in the first quarter. Gagnon Securities LLC now owns 704 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $264,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Boulder Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 1.0% during the third quarter. Boulder Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,569 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,106,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ MSFT opened at $450.18 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $3.35 trillion, a P/E ratio of 36.25, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.99. Microsoft has a 52-week low of $344.79 and a 52-week high of $468.35. 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 firm’s fifty day moving average is $402.37 and its two-hundred day moving average is $413.88.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.22 by $0.24. Microsoft had a return on equity of 33.36% and a net margin of 35.43%. The firm had revenue of $70.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $68.54 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.94 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Microsoft will post 13.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be given a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.74%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 25.66%.

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.