Wedbush Lowers Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Price Target to $475.00

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) had its price objective trimmed by Wedbush from $550.00 to $475.00 in a research report report published on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an outperform rating on the software giant’s stock.

A number of other equities analysts have also issued reports on the stock. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and set a $520.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $500.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $509.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Loop Capital raised their price target on Microsoft from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Microsoft from $540.00 to $530.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $505.41.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of MSFT opened at $381.35 on Thursday. 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 has a 1-year low of $344.79 and a 1-year high of $468.35. The stock has a market cap of $2.83 trillion, a PE ratio of 30.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.00. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $392.37 and a 200 day moving average price of $414.81.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted 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 period in the prior year, the company posted $2.93 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Microsoft will post 13.08 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be given a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.87%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is currently 26.73%.

Institutional Trading of Microsoft

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in MSFT. BCK Partners Inc. raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 1.8% in the third quarter. BCK Partners Inc. now owns 1,353 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $582,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. Muirfield Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in Microsoft by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Muirfield Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,427 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,866,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. Retirement Financial Solutions LLC lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Retirement Financial Solutions LLC now owns 1,050 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $443,000 after buying an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. Sequent Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Microsoft by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. Sequent Asset Management LLC now owns 1,983 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $853,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cypress Point Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Cypress Point Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,208 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $1,380,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the period. 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.