The Goldman Sachs Group Increases Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Price Target to $515.00

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) had its price objective upped by The Goldman Sachs Group from $450.00 to $515.00 in a research report sent to investors on Friday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a buy rating on the software giant’s stock.

Several other research firms also recently weighed in on MSFT. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Microsoft from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note on Thursday, February 22nd. BNP Paribas upgraded Microsoft from a neutral rating to an outperform rating and set a $471.00 target price for the company in a report on Thursday, January 18th. DA Davidson reaffirmed a buy rating and issued a $500.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Friday, March 15th. Barclays increased their price objective on Microsoft from $421.00 to $475.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Finally, Wedbush reissued an outperform rating and set a $500.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $452.61.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of Microsoft stock opened at $406.32 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.02 trillion, a PE ratio of 35.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a current ratio of 1.22, a quick ratio of 1.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19. Microsoft has a 12 month low of $295.25 and a 12 month high of $430.82. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $414.48 and its 200-day moving average price is $388.51.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The software giant reported $2.94 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.81 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $61.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $60.86 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 36.43% and a return on equity of 38.87%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 17.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.45 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Microsoft will post 11.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 16th will be given 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 payout ratio is currently 25.97%.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In related news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 3,303 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on Monday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $406.12, for a total transaction of $1,341,414.36. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 570,826 shares in the company, valued at approximately $231,823,855.12. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other Microsoft news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 3,303 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $406.12, for a total transaction of $1,341,414.36. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 570,826 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $231,823,855.12. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,955 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 11th. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $64,538,265.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 1,070,258 shares of company stock valued at $30,690,456 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Microsoft

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Financial Security Advisor Inc. grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Financial Security Advisor Inc. now owns 27,270 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $10,255,000 after buying an additional 452 shares in the last quarter. Gunderson Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Gunderson Capital Management Inc. now owns 24,887 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $9,359,000 after acquiring an additional 185 shares during the last quarter. Bailard Inc. grew its position in Microsoft by 1.2% in the third quarter. Bailard Inc. now owns 470,301 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $148,497,000 after acquiring an additional 5,366 shares in the last quarter. RNC Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Microsoft by 10.4% during the fourth quarter. RNC Capital Management LLC now owns 69,053 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $25,967,000 after acquiring an additional 6,484 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Independence Bank of Kentucky raised its position in Microsoft by 7.7% during the third quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky now owns 17,471 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $5,516,000 after purchasing an additional 1,245 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is 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.