Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Price Target Raised to $650.00

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) had its target price boosted by Scotiabank from $500.00 to $650.00 in a report published on Thursday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a sector outperform rating on the software giant’s stock.

Several other research analysts have also weighed in on the company. Cantor Fitzgerald upped their target price on Microsoft from $581.00 to $639.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday. DA Davidson upped their price target on Microsoft from $500.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on Microsoft from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 28th. Citigroup upped their price target on Microsoft from $605.00 to $613.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their price target on Microsoft from $600.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $609.86.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of MSFT stock opened at $524.11 on Thursday. 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 has a fifty-two week low of $344.79 and a fifty-two week high of $555.45. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $489.94 and its two-hundred day moving average is $434.94. The firm has a market cap of $3.90 trillion, a P/E ratio of 38.42, a PEG ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 1.06.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $3.65 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.35 by $0.30. Microsoft had a return on equity of 32.44% and a net margin of 36.15%. The company had revenue of $76.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $73.79 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.95 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 18.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Microsoft will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 21st will be given a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 21st. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 24.34%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Judson Althoff sold 16,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $458.18, for a total value of $7,330,880.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 98,010 shares in the company, valued at $44,906,221.80. This trade represents a 14.03% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,500 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $453.77, for a total value of $9,756,055.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 134,888 shares in the company, valued at approximately $61,208,127.76. This represents a 13.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 60,743 shares of company stock worth $27,520,933 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Microsoft

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Newton One Investments LLC increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 66.7% in the first quarter. Newton One Investments LLC now owns 75 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. Ball & Co Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. Bulwark Capital Corp bought a new position in Microsoft during the second quarter worth about $32,000. Westend Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Microsoft by 386.7% during the second quarter. Westend Capital Management LLC now owns 73 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the period. Finally, LSV Asset Management bought a new position in Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth about $44,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

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.