Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Receives “Outperform” Rating from Raymond James

Raymond James reiterated their outperform rating on shares of Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) in a report issued on Friday morning, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a $480.00 target price on the software giant’s stock, up from their prior target price of $450.00.

Several other research analysts have also issued reports on the stock. UBS Group restated a buy rating and set a $480.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. BNP Paribas raised shares of Microsoft from a neutral rating to an outperform rating and set a $471.00 target price for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 18th. KeyCorp assumed coverage on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, March 21st. They issued an overweight rating and a $490.00 target price on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on Microsoft from $465.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Monday, April 1st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Microsoft from $460.00 to $480.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-two have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $452.61.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of Microsoft stock opened at $402.25 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $2.99 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.83, a P/E/G ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 0.89. Microsoft has a twelve month low of $303.40 and a twelve month high of $430.82. The company’s fifty day moving average is $414.45 and its 200 day moving average is $389.01. The company has a quick ratio of 1.23, a current ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The software giant reported $2.94 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.81 by $0.13. Microsoft had a return on equity of 37.54% and a net margin of 36.43%. The firm had revenue of $61.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $60.86 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.45 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 17.0% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Microsoft will post 11.71 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.75%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 15th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.97%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 3,303 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $406.12, for a total value of $1,341,414.36. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 570,826 shares in the company, valued at approximately $231,823,855.12. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,955 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $403.96, for a total transaction of $8,868,941.80. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 159,764 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $64,538,265.44. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 3,303 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $406.12, for a total transaction of $1,341,414.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 570,826 shares in the company, valued at $231,823,855.12. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 1,070,258 shares of company stock valued at $30,690,456. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Microsoft

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Friedenthal Financial bought a new position in Microsoft during the fourth quarter valued at $45,000. Neo Ivy Capital Management purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft during the 4th quarter valued at $58,000. Richardson Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 1,290.0% during the 1st quarter. Richardson Capital Management LLC now owns 139 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $59,000 after acquiring an additional 129 shares during the period. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Microsoft by 89.0% in the 3rd quarter. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC now owns 223 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $70,000 after acquiring an additional 105 shares during the period. Finally, PayPay Securities Corp lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 23.7% during the fourth quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 188 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $71,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors 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.