Reviewing Manhattan Associates (NASDAQ:MANH) and Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Manhattan Associates (NASDAQ:MANH) and Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) are both large-cap computer and technology companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their institutional ownership, valuation, dividends, analyst recommendations, risk, profitability and earnings.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent ratings and target prices for Manhattan Associates and Microsoft, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Manhattan Associates	0	6	7	1	2.64
Microsoft	0	4	37	2	2.95

Manhattan Associates presently has a consensus target price of $222.42, suggesting a potential upside of 31.86%. Microsoft has a consensus target price of $634.33, suggesting a potential upside of 32.59%. Given Microsoft’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Microsoft is more favorable than Manhattan Associates.

Volatility & Risk

Manhattan Associates has a beta of 1.08, indicating that its stock price is 8% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Microsoft has a beta of 1.02, indicating that its stock price is 2% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

98.4% of Manhattan Associates shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 71.1% of Microsoft shares are held by institutional investors. 0.9% of Manhattan Associates shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 0.0% of Microsoft shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Profitability

This table compares Manhattan Associates and Microsoft’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Manhattan Associates	20.25%	78.80%	29.95%
Microsoft	35.71%	33.47%	18.89%

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Manhattan Associates and Microsoft”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Manhattan Associates	$1.07 billion	9.53	$218.36 million	$3.51	48.05
Microsoft	$293.81 billion	12.10	$101.83 billion	$14.06	34.03

Microsoft has higher revenue and earnings than Manhattan Associates. Microsoft is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Manhattan Associates, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Summary

Microsoft beats Manhattan Associates on 9 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Manhattan Associates

Manhattan Associates, Inc. develops, sells, deploys, services, and maintains software solutions to manage supply chains, inventory, and omni-channel operations. It offers Warehouse Management Solution for managing goods and information across the distribution centers; Manhattan Active Warehouse Management, a cloud native and version less application for the associate; and Transportation Management Solution for helping shippers navigate their way through the demands and meet customer service expectations at the lowest possible freight costs; Manhattan SCALE, a portfolio of logistics execution solution; and Manhattan Active Omni, which offers order management, store inventory and fulfillment, POS, and customer engagement tools for enterprises and stores. The company also provides inventory optimization and allocation solutions; technology platform including Manhattan Active Platform solutions, a cloud-native product designed to provide version-less product access; maintenance services, which offers on-premises software licensees with software upgrades for additional or improved functionality and technological advances; and professional services, such as solutions planning and implementation, and related consulting services. In addition, it provides training and change management services; and resells computer hardware, radio frequency terminal networks, radio frequency identification chip readers, bar code printers and scanners, and other peripherals. The company offers products through direct sales personnel and partnership agreements with various organizations. It serves retail, consumer goods, food and grocery, logistics service providers, industrial and wholesale, high technology and electronics, life sciences, and government industries. The company operates in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and the Asia Pacific. Manhattan Associates, Inc. was founded in 1990 and is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia.

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. This segment also provides LinkedIn; and dynamics business solutions, including Dynamics 365, a set of intelligent, cloud-based applications across ERP, CRM, power apps, and power automate; and on-premises ERP and CRM applications. The Intelligent Cloud segment offers server products and cloud services, such as azure and other cloud services; SQL and windows server, visual studio, system center, and related client access licenses, as well as nuance and GitHub; and enterprise services including enterprise support services, industry solutions, and nuance professional services. The More Personal Computing segment offers Windows, including windows OEM licensing and other non-volume licensing of the Windows operating system; Windows commercial comprising volume licensing of the Windows operating system, windows cloud services, and other Windows commercial offerings; patent licensing; and windows Internet of Things; and devices, such as surface, HoloLens, and PC accessories. Additionally, this segment provides gaming, which includes Xbox hardware and content, and first- and third-party content; Xbox game pass and other subscriptions, cloud gaming, advertising, third-party disc royalties, and other cloud services; and search and news advertising, which includes Bing, Microsoft News and Edge, and third-party affiliates. The company sells its products through OEMs, distributors, and resellers; and directly through digital marketplaces, online, and retail stores. The company was founded in 1975 and is headquartered in Redmond, Washington.