Wedbush Increases Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Price Target to $425.00

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) had its target price hoisted by equities researchers at Wedbush from $400.00 to $425.00 in a research report issued on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “outperform” rating on the software giant’s stock. Wedbush’s price target points to a potential upside of 14.91% from the company’s current price.

MSFT has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $390.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday, October 25th. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $398.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 20th. Loop Capital started coverage on shares of Microsoft in a report on Tuesday, October 17th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $425.00 price target on the stock. StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, October 5th. They issued a “buy” rating on the stock. Finally, Redburn Partners lowered their price target on shares of Microsoft from $450.00 to $440.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 11th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $385.11.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ MSFT opened at $369.85 on Thursday. Microsoft has a twelve month low of $219.35 and a twelve month high of $376.35. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $336.17 and its 200-day moving average price is $331.59. The company has a market capitalization of $2.75 trillion, a PE ratio of 35.80, a PEG ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 0.88. The company has a quick ratio of 1.64, a current ratio of 1.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 24th. The software giant reported $2.99 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.65 by $0.34. Microsoft had a return on equity of 38.79% and a net margin of 35.31%. The firm had revenue of $56.52 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $54.52 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.35 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 12.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Microsoft will post 11.13 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 38,234 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $328.43, for a total transaction of $12,557,192.62. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 800,668 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $262,963,391.24. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 26,815 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $327.37, for a total value of $8,778,426.55. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 198,373 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $64,941,369.01. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Satya Nadella sold 38,234 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $328.43, for a total transaction of $12,557,192.62. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 800,668 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $262,963,391.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Microsoft

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in MSFT. Monumental Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the first quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Syverson Strege & Co grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 157.0% during the first quarter. Syverson Strege & Co now owns 203 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $58,000 after buying an additional 124 shares during the last quarter. Atlantic Private Wealth LLC grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 534.5% during the second quarter. Atlantic Private Wealth LLC now owns 184 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $63,000 after buying an additional 155 shares during the last quarter. Hibernia Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the third quarter valued at approximately $69,000. Finally, Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 89.0% during the third quarter. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC now owns 223 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $70,000 after buying an additional 105 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 69.20% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Company Profile

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.