Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Price Target Raised to $489.00

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) had its price target increased by Sanford C. Bernstein from $465.00 to $489.00 in a report released on Friday, Benzinga reports. They currently have an outperform rating on the software giant’s stock.

Several other research analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. Raymond James increased their price objective on Microsoft from $400.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Stifel Nicolaus reiterated a buy rating and issued a $455.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a report on Monday, April 22nd. UBS Group restated a buy rating and set a $480.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $421.00 to $475.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Finally, StockNews.com cut Microsoft from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report on Thursday, February 22nd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $452.61.

Microsoft Stock Up 1.8 %

MSFT stock opened at $406.32 on Friday. Microsoft has a one year low of $295.25 and a one year high of $430.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a current ratio of 1.24. The company has a fifty day moving average of $414.48 and a 200-day moving average of $388.51. 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.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The software giant reported $2.94 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.81 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $61.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $60.86 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 37.54% and a net margin of 36.43%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.45 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Microsoft will post 11.71 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 16th will be issued a $0.75 dividend. 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 dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 25.97%.

Insider Activity

In related news, major shareholder Corp Microsoft sold 1,000,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $1.95, for a total transaction of $1,950,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 11,677,398 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,770,926.10. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 3,303 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $406.12, for a total value of $1,341,414.36. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 570,826 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $231,823,855.12. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, major shareholder Corp Microsoft sold 1,000,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the insider now owns 11,677,398 shares in the company, valued at $22,770,926.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 1,070,258 shares of company stock valued at $30,690,456 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Friedenthal Financial acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter valued at about $45,000. Neo Ivy Capital Management acquired a new stake in Microsoft during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $58,000. Richardson Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Microsoft by 1,290.0% during the 1st quarter. Richardson Capital Management LLC now owns 139 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $59,000 after purchasing an additional 129 shares during the last quarter. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 105 shares in the last quarter. Finally, PayPay Securities Corp boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 23.7% during the 4th quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 188 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $71,000 after buying an additional 36 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.