Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Stock Rating Reaffirmed by Stifel Nicolaus

Stifel Nicolaus reaffirmed their buy rating on shares of Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) in a research note issued to investors on Monday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a $455.00 target price on the software giant’s stock.

Several other research analysts have also recently issued reports on MSFT. KeyCorp started coverage on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, March 21st. They issued an overweight rating and a $490.00 price objective for the company. Raymond James increased their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $400.00 to $450.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Macquarie increased their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $430.00 to $450.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. StockNews.com cut shares of Microsoft from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report on Thursday, February 22nd. Finally, Piper Sandler reiterated an overweight rating and issued a $455.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, January 25th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-five have assigned 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 an average target price of $434.05.

Microsoft Price Performance

NASDAQ MSFT opened at $400.96 on Monday. Microsoft has a 52 week low of $275.37 and a 52 week high of $430.82. The company has a current ratio of 1.22, a quick ratio of 1.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19. The stock has a market cap of $2.98 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $414.57 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $386.37.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, January 30th. The software giant reported $2.93 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.76 by $0.17. Microsoft had a net margin of 36.27% and a return on equity of 38.40%. The firm had revenue of $62.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $61.14 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.32 EPS. Microsoft’s quarterly revenue was up 17.6% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Microsoft will post 11.61 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 16th will be paid a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 15th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.75%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is presently 27.12%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, major shareholder Corp Microsoft sold 1,000,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $1.95, for a total value of $1,950,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 11,677,398 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,770,926.10. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,955 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $403.96, for a total transaction of $8,868,941.80. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 159,764 shares in the company, valued at approximately $64,538,265.44. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Corp Microsoft sold 1,000,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $1.95, for a total transaction of $1,950,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 11,677,398 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,770,926.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 1,070,258 shares of company stock worth $30,690,456. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of MSFT. Friedenthal Financial acquired a new position in Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at $45,000. Neo Ivy Capital Management acquired a new position in Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at $58,000. Richardson Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Microsoft by 1,290.0% in the 1st quarter. Richardson Capital Management LLC now owns 139 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $59,000 after buying an additional 129 shares during the last quarter. Hibernia Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in Microsoft in the 3rd quarter valued at $69,000. Finally, Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Microsoft by 89.0% in the 3rd 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 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.