The Goldman Sachs Group Increases Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Price Target to $515.00

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) had its price target increased by investment analysts at The Goldman Sachs Group from $450.00 to $515.00 in a report issued on Friday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “buy” rating on the software giant’s stock. The Goldman Sachs Group’s target price suggests a potential upside of 26.75% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other research firms have also recently commented on MSFT. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on Microsoft from $415.00 to $450.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Microsoft from $465.00 to $520.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $500.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Citigroup reduced their target price on Microsoft from $480.00 to $475.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 22nd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $452.61.

Microsoft Stock Up 1.8 %

NASDAQ MSFT opened at $406.32 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $3.02 trillion, a PE ratio of 35.18, a P/E/G ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.89. Microsoft has a fifty-two week low of $295.25 and a fifty-two week high of $430.82. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $414.48 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $388.12. The company has a quick ratio of 1.20, a current ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The software giant reported $2.94 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.81 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $61.86 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $60.86 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 38.87% and a net margin of 36.43%. Microsoft’s quarterly revenue was up 17.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.45 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Microsoft will post 11.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 45,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $411.78, for a total transaction of $18,530,100.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 574,129 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $236,414,839.62. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 45,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $411.78, for a total transaction of $18,530,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 574,129 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $236,414,839.62. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,955 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $403.96, for a total value of $8,868,941.80. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 159,764 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $64,538,265.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 1,070,258 shares of company stock valued at $30,690,456. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Gunderson Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Gunderson Capital Management Inc. now owns 24,887 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $9,359,000 after purchasing an additional 185 shares during the period. Bailard Inc. boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. Bailard Inc. now owns 470,301 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $148,497,000 after purchasing an additional 5,366 shares during the period. RNC Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 10.4% in the 4th quarter. RNC Capital Management LLC now owns 69,053 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $25,967,000 after purchasing an additional 6,484 shares during the period. Independence Bank of Kentucky boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 7.7% in the 3rd quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky now owns 17,471 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $5,516,000 after purchasing an additional 1,245 shares during the period. Finally, Bensler LLC boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 3.2% in the 3rd quarter. Bensler LLC now owns 86,932 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $27,449,000 after purchasing an additional 2,674 shares during the period. Institutional investors 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.