Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Receives Buy Rating from Jefferies Financial Group

Jefferies Financial Group reiterated their buy rating on shares of Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) in a research note released on Wednesday,MarketScreener Latest Ratings reports. They currently have a $675.00 price objective on the software giant’s stock.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on MSFT. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Microsoft from $625.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $625.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, October 22nd. HSBC lifted their price objective on Microsoft from $643.00 to $648.00 in a research report on Monday, October 27th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $630.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Tuesday, October 28th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on Microsoft from $650.00 to $625.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-seven have given a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Microsoft currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $634.33.

Microsoft Stock Down 2.3%

Shares of Microsoft stock opened at $478.54 on Wednesday. Microsoft has a 1 year low of $344.79 and a 1 year high of $555.45. The company has a market cap of $3.56 trillion, a P/E ratio of 34.04, a P/E/G ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a current ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $508.38 and a 200 day moving average price of $500.92.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The software giant reported $4.13 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.65 by $0.48. The company had revenue of $77.67 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $75.49 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 32.45% and a net margin of 35.71%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 18.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $3.30 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Microsoft will post 13.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 19th will be given a dividend of $0.91 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 19th. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.8%. Microsoft’s payout ratio is currently 25.89%.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In other news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 38,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $518.64, for a total value of $19,967,640.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 461,597 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $239,402,668.08. This trade represents a 7.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Judson Althoff sold 12,750 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $491.52, for a total value of $6,266,880.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 129,349 shares in the company, valued at $63,577,620.48. The trade was a 8.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 0.03% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of MSFT. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 51.3% in the 2nd quarter. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC now owns 59 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the period. Bulwark Capital Corp acquired a new stake in Microsoft during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $32,000. Westend Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Microsoft by 386.7% in the second quarter. Westend Capital Management LLC now owns 73 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 58 shares during the period. Bayforest Capital Ltd purchased a new position in Microsoft in the third quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Finally, Sellwood Investment Partners LLC acquired a new position in Microsoft during the third quarter valued at approximately $49,000. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.