Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Upgraded to “Buy” at DA Davidson

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) was upgraded by investment analysts at DA Davidson from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report issued on Thursday,Briefing.com Automated Import reports. The brokerage currently has a $450.00 price objective on the software giant’s stock, up from their previous price objective of $425.00. DA Davidson’s price target indicates a potential upside of 17.41% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other brokerages have also issued reports on MSFT. UBS Group decreased their target price on shares of Microsoft from $525.00 to $510.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $500.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Mizuho dropped their target price on Microsoft from $510.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 30th. StockNews.com cut Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Finally, Guggenheim restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Friday, January 24th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $510.43.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $383.27 on Thursday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $413.92 and its two-hundred day moving average is $421.06. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.85 trillion, a P/E ratio of 30.86, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. Microsoft has a 52 week low of $376.91 and a 52 week high of $468.35.

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 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 in the prior year, the company posted $2.93 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Microsoft will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Microsoft

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Ball & Co Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at about $31,000. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the 4th quarter valued at about $38,000. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 35.7% in the 3rd quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 95 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. IFS Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Microsoft by 53.8% in the fourth quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 100 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. Finally, LSV Asset Management bought a new position in Microsoft during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $44,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

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.