Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Up 1.3%

Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) shot up 1.3% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $395.24 and last traded at $394.42. 6,266,542 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 71% from the average session volume of 21,972,195 shares. The stock had previously closed at $389.33.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on MSFT. Truist Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $600.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Monday, March 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Microsoft from $440.00 to $470.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. StockNews.com cut Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 22nd. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $500.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein upped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $465.00 to $489.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-two have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $452.61.

Microsoft Trading Up 1.4 %

The company has a market cap of $2.94 trillion, a P/E ratio of 34.15, a PEG ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a quick ratio of 1.23, a current ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $414.18 and its two-hundred day moving average is $389.44.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The software giant reported $2.94 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.81 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $61.86 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $60.86 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 36.43% and a return on equity of 37.54%. Microsoft’s quarterly revenue was up 17.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.45 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 11.75 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.76%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 15th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is currently 25.97%.

Insider Activity

In other Microsoft news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 45,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $411.78, for a total value of $18,530,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 574,129 shares in the company, valued at approximately $236,414,839.62. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. In related news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 45,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $411.78, for a total transaction of $18,530,100.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 574,129 shares in the company, valued at approximately $236,414,839.62. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, major shareholder Corp Microsoft sold 1,000,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $1.95, for a total value of $1,950,000.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 11,677,398 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,770,926.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 1,070,258 shares of company stock worth $30,690,456 over the last 90 days. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Friedenthal Financial purchased a new stake in Microsoft during the 4th quarter valued at $45,000. Richardson Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Microsoft by 1,290.0% during 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 during the period. Neo Ivy Capital Management purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth $58,000. PayPay Securities Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 23.7% in the 4th 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. Finally, Horizon Financial Services LLC acquired a new stake in Microsoft in the first quarter valued at approximately $80,000. Hedge funds and other 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.