Sanford C. Bernstein Reiterates Outperform Rating for Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT)‘s stock had its “outperform” rating reissued by equities research analysts at Sanford C. Bernstein in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $398.00 price target on the software giant’s stock. Sanford C. Bernstein’s price target would indicate a potential upside of 20.53% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other equities analysts have also weighed in on the stock. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “sell” rating and issued a $232.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, July 20th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on shares of Microsoft from $340.00 to $380.00 in a research note on Tuesday, May 30th. Citigroup reduced their target price on shares of Microsoft from $425.00 to $420.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 26th. StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, August 17th. They issued a “buy” rating for the company. Finally, Fundamental Research set a $298.10 price objective on shares of Microsoft and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and thirty-four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Microsoft currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $374.98.

Microsoft Price Performance

MSFT opened at $330.22 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.75, a current ratio of 1.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. Microsoft has a 12 month low of $213.43 and a 12 month high of $366.78. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $332.24 and a 200 day simple moving average of $312.50. The stock has a market cap of $2.45 trillion, a P/E ratio of 34.08, a P/E/G ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 0.90.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 25th. The software giant reported $2.69 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.55 by $0.14. The business had revenue of $56.19 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $55.49 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 34.15% and a return on equity of 38.70%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.23 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Microsoft will post 10.9 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 50,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $337.20, for a total transaction of $16,860,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 588,084 shares in the company, valued at $198,301,924.80. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 50,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $337.20, for a total transaction of $16,860,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 588,084 shares in the company, valued at $198,301,924.80. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 26,815 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on Friday, September 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $327.37, for a total transaction of $8,778,426.55. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 198,373 shares in the company, valued at approximately $64,941,369.01. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 115,049 shares of company stock worth $38,195,619 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Microsoft

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Monumental Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in Microsoft during the first quarter worth $28,000. Gleason Group Inc. increased its stake in Microsoft by 111.7% in the first quarter. Gleason Group Inc. now owns 199 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $57,000 after purchasing an additional 105 shares in the last quarter. Syverson Strege & Co increased its stake in Microsoft by 157.0% in the first quarter. Syverson Strege & Co now owns 203 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $58,000 after purchasing an additional 124 shares in the last quarter. Atlantic Private Wealth LLC increased its stake in Microsoft by 534.5% in the second quarter. Atlantic Private Wealth LLC now owns 184 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $63,000 after purchasing an additional 155 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MayTech Global Investments LLC bought a new stake in Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at $83,000. Institutional investors own 69.20% 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.