Evercore ISI Reaffirms “Outperform” Rating for Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT)‘s stock had its “outperform” rating reaffirmed by Evercore ISI in a note issued to investors on Friday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. They currently have a $545.00 price target on the software giant’s stock, up from their previous price target of $515.00. Evercore ISI’s price target would suggest a potential upside of 6.40% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other analysts also recently weighed in on MSFT. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on shares of Microsoft from $480.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $581.00 target price (up from $512.00) on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. Barclays raised their target price on Microsoft from $494.00 to $550.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, July 21st. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $530.00 target price (up from $482.00) on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, June 26th. Finally, TD Securities lifted their target price on Microsoft from $475.00 to $490.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-nine have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $551.21.

Microsoft Stock Down 0.3%

NASDAQ:MSFT traded down $1.51 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $512.20. The stock had a trading volume of 5,781,486 shares, compared to its average volume of 22,140,328. The company has a current ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. Microsoft has a 1-year low of $344.79 and a 1-year high of $518.29. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $483.52 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $431.57. The company has a market cap of $3.81 trillion, a PE ratio of 39.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 1.04.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.22 by $0.24. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.79% and a return on equity of 32.74%. The company had revenue of $70.07 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $68.54 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.94 earnings per share. Microsoft’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that Microsoft will post 13.08 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 3,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $463.00, for a total transaction of $1,389,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 43,930 shares in the company, valued at $20,339,590. The trade was a 6.39% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,500 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $453.77, for a total transaction of $9,756,055.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 134,888 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $61,208,127.76. This represents a 13.75% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 135,743 shares of company stock valued at $60,224,683. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Microsoft

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Equitable Trust Co. lifted its stake in Microsoft by 2.0% in the second quarter. Equitable Trust Co. now owns 132,078 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $65,697,000 after buying an additional 2,540 shares during the period. TD Asset Management Inc raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 2.2% during the second quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 9,422,253 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $4,686,723,000 after purchasing an additional 204,588 shares during the period. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC raised its position in Microsoft by 10.0% in the 2nd quarter. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC now owns 4,174 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $2,076,000 after buying an additional 380 shares during the last quarter. IFC Advisors LLC raised its position in Microsoft by 4.5% in the 2nd quarter. IFC Advisors LLC now owns 26,465 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $13,164,000 after buying an additional 1,140 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Founders Grove Wealth Partners LLC raised its position in Microsoft by 7.0% in the 2nd quarter. Founders Grove Wealth Partners LLC now owns 14,645 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $7,285,000 after buying an additional 957 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% 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.