Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Price Target Raised to $485.00 at Evercore ISI

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) had its target price lifted by Evercore ISI from $475.00 to $485.00 in a report issued on Friday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have an outperform rating on the software giant’s stock.

Several other research analysts have also weighed in on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $415.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Raymond James upped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $400.00 to $450.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Piper Sandler reiterated an overweight rating and issued a $455.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, January 25th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $450.00 to $515.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $465.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Monday, April 1st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $452.61.

Microsoft Trading Up 1.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $406.32 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $414.48 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $387.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a current ratio of 1.22 and a quick ratio of 1.20. Microsoft has a one year low of $295.25 and a one year high of $430.82. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.02 trillion, a PE ratio of 35.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 0.89.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The software giant reported $2.94 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.81 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $61.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $60.86 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 36.43% and a return on equity of 38.87%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.45 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Microsoft will post 11.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.74%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 15th. Microsoft’s payout ratio is currently 25.97%.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In other news, major shareholder Corp Microsoft sold 1,000,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $1.95, for a total transaction of $1,950,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 11,677,398 shares in the company, valued at $22,770,926.10. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 3,303 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $406.12, for a total transaction of $1,341,414.36. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 570,826 shares in the company, valued at $231,823,855.12. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, major shareholder Corp Microsoft sold 1,000,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $1.95, for a total transaction of $1,950,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 11,677,398 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,770,926.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 1,070,258 shares of company stock worth $30,690,456 over the last three months. 0.03% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Microsoft

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Friedenthal Financial bought a new position in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at $45,000. Neo Ivy Capital Management bought a new position in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at $58,000. Richardson Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 1,290.0% in the first quarter. Richardson Capital Management LLC now owns 139 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $59,000 after buying an additional 129 shares in the last quarter. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 89.0% in the third quarter. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC now owns 223 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $70,000 after buying an additional 105 shares in the last quarter. Finally, PayPay Securities Corp lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 23.7% in the fourth quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 188 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $71,000 after buying an additional 36 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.