Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Oppenheimer Analyst Says

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) had its price target hoisted by equities researchers at Oppenheimer from $600.00 to $630.00 in a research note issued to investors on Thursday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The brokerage currently has an “outperform” rating on the software giant’s stock. Oppenheimer’s price objective points to a potential upside of 20.20% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other research analysts have also recently issued reports on MSFT. TD Securities lifted their price objective on Microsoft from $475.00 to $490.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Microsoft from $565.00 to $585.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 25th. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $515.00 to $585.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 18th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $525.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Friday, May 23rd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $609.86.

Microsoft Stock Down 1.8%

Shares of Microsoft stock opened at $524.11 on Thursday. Microsoft has a 1 year low of $344.79 and a 1 year high of $555.45. The firm has a market cap of $3.90 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.42, a PEG ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a 50-day moving average of $489.94 and a 200 day moving average of $434.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 1.36.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $3.65 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.35 by $0.30. Microsoft had a net margin of 36.15% and a return on equity of 32.44%. The business had revenue of $76.44 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $73.79 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.95 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Microsoft will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Amy Coleman sold 13,243 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $452.01, for a total transaction of $5,985,968.43. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 43,100 shares in the company, valued at $19,481,631. This trade represents a 23.50% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Judson Althoff sold 16,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $458.18, for a total transaction of $7,330,880.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 98,010 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $44,906,221.80. This represents a 14.03% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 60,743 shares of company stock worth $27,520,933 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Microsoft

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. WFA Asset Management Corp lifted its stake in Microsoft by 27.0% in the 1st quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 1,016 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $427,000 after purchasing an additional 216 shares in the last quarter. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.3% in the second quarter. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. now owns 12,658 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $5,658,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Discipline Wealth Solutions LLC lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 410.4% in the third quarter. Discipline Wealth Solutions LLC now owns 2,659 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,144,000 after buying an additional 2,138 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Group Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Wealth Group Ltd. now owns 2,374 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,000,000 after buying an additional 28 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tallon Kerry Patrick bought a new position in Microsoft during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,375,000. 71.13% of the stock is owned by 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.