Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Price Target Raised to $485.00

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) had its price objective boosted by Evercore ISI from $475.00 to $485.00 in a report published on Friday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an outperform rating on the software giant’s stock.

A number of other research analysts also recently weighed in on the company. Macquarie upped their target price on Microsoft from $430.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Microsoft from $465.00 to $520.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. KeyCorp began coverage on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, March 21st. They set an overweight rating and a $490.00 target price on the stock. StockNews.com lowered shares of Microsoft from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note on Thursday, February 22nd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $450.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Friday. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $452.61.

Microsoft Price Performance

MSFT opened at $406.32 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $414.48 and its 200-day moving average price is $388.51. Microsoft has a 52-week low of $295.25 and a 52-week high of $430.82. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.02 trillion, a PE ratio of 35.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a current ratio of 1.24.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The software giant reported $2.94 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.81 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $61.86 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $60.86 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 36.43% and a return on equity of 37.54%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.45 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Microsoft will post 11.71 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 16th will be given a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 15th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.74%. Microsoft’s payout ratio is currently 25.97%.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,955 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 159,764 shares in the company, valued at approximately $64,538,265.44. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Microsoft news, 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 value of $1,950,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 11,677,398 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,770,926.10. 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 business’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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 159,764 shares in the company, valued at $64,538,265.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 1,070,258 shares of company stock worth $30,690,456. 0.03% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Riverwater Partners LLC grew its holdings in Microsoft by 18.4% during the 1st quarter. Riverwater Partners LLC now owns 4,555 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $1,916,000 after buying an additional 708 shares in the last quarter. Tenon Financial LLC purchased a new position in Microsoft during the first quarter valued at $1,522,000. Kellett Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Microsoft by 0.6% in the 1st quarter. Kellett Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 6,222 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $2,618,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. Phoenix Wealth Advisors lifted its stake in Microsoft by 20.4% in the 1st quarter. Phoenix Wealth Advisors now owns 21,509 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $9,049,000 after purchasing an additional 3,644 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fonville Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 77.6% during the 1st quarter. Fonville Wealth Management LLC now owns 7,141 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $3,004,000 after purchasing an additional 3,120 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is 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.