Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Earns “Sector Weight” Rating from KeyCorp

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT)‘s stock had its “sector weight” rating reaffirmed by equities researchers at KeyCorp in a research note issued to investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports.

Several other brokerages have also issued reports on MSFT. Guggenheim restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on Microsoft from $515.00 to $475.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $475.00 target price (down previously from $500.00) on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $520.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Westpark Capital initiated coverage on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $499.97.

Microsoft Stock Down 3.7 %

MSFT stock opened at $371.61 on Thursday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $390.02 and a 200-day moving average price of $413.52. Microsoft has a 1-year low of $344.79 and a 1-year high of $468.35. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.76 trillion, a P/E ratio of 29.92, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 1.34.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The software giant reported $3.23 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Microsoft will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Microsoft

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in MSFT. BCK Partners Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. BCK Partners Inc. now owns 1,353 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $582,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. Muirfield Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.5% in the 4th 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 during the period. Retirement Financial Solutions LLC raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Retirement Financial Solutions LLC now owns 1,050 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $443,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. Sequent Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Microsoft by 1.3% during the third quarter. Sequent Asset Management LLC now owns 1,983 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $853,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cypress Point Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Microsoft by 0.8% in the third quarter. Cypress Point Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,208 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,380,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.