Microsoft’s (MSFT) Outperform Rating Reiterated at Royal Bank of Canada

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT)‘s stock had its “outperform” rating reissued by equities research analysts at Royal Bank of Canada in a research note issued on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $500.00 price target on the software giant’s stock. Royal Bank of Canada’s target price suggests a potential upside of 19.52% from the stock’s current price.

Several other research analysts have also commented on MSFT. Citigroup lowered their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $520.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Raymond James reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $480.00 price objective (up previously from $450.00) on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Microsoft from $465.00 to $520.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on Microsoft from $450.00 to $515.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Finally, Truist Financial restated a “buy” rating and set a $600.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Monday, June 17th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $485.39.

Microsoft Trading Down 1.1 %

Shares of Microsoft stock traded down $4.58 on Wednesday, reaching $418.34. The company had a trading volume of 13,536,700 shares, compared to its average volume of 20,599,344. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a current ratio of 1.24. The firm has a market cap of $3.11 trillion, a PE ratio of 36.22, a PEG ratio of 2.02 and a beta of 0.89. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $440.44 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $421.45. Microsoft has a 52-week low of $309.45 and a 52-week high of $468.35.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $2.95 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.90 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $64.73 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $64.38 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 37.54% and a net margin of 36.43%. The firm’s revenue was up 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.69 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Microsoft will post 11.77 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $425.68, for a total transaction of $10,642,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 104,949 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $44,674,690.32. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $425.68, for a total value of $10,642,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 104,949 shares in the company, valued at approximately $44,674,690.32. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 322 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on Friday, May 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $416.60, for a total value of $134,145.20. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 47,255 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,686,433. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 25,566 shares of company stock worth $10,877,535. 0.03% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Microsoft

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 169.2% during the 2nd quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 70 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. Friedenthal Financial acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter valued at $45,000. Neo Ivy Capital Management acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter valued at $58,000. Richardson Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Microsoft by 1,290.0% in the 1st quarter. Richardson Capital Management LLC now owns 139 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $59,000 after purchasing an additional 129 shares during the last quarter. Finally, PayPay Securities Corp lifted its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 36 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.