Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Receives $493.94 Average PT from Brokerages

Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) has received a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the thirty-two research firms that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and thirty have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $493.47.

Several research firms have commented on MSFT. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $485.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and set a $550.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Microsoft from $500.00 to $515.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Oppenheimer downgraded Microsoft from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, Truist Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $600.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $411.04, for a total value of $1,027,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer now owns 50,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,552,000. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $411.04, for a total value of $1,027,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 50,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,552,000. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Satya Nadella sold 78,353 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $408.63, for a total value of $32,017,386.39. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 864,327 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $353,189,942.01. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 190,629 shares of company stock valued at $77,916,485 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Microsoft

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. GenWealth Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 4.2% during the 3rd quarter. GenWealth Group Inc. now owns 1,348 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $580,000 after acquiring an additional 54 shares during the period. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Microsoft by 1.6% in the third quarter. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC now owns 26,138 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $11,247,000 after purchasing an additional 419 shares during the last quarter. Iams Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Microsoft by 11.6% during the third quarter. Iams Wealth Management LLC now owns 10,399 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $4,475,000 after purchasing an additional 1,077 shares during the period. Creative Planning increased its position in Microsoft by 2.7% in the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 2,559,944 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,095,588,000 after buying an additional 67,035 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wesbanco Bank Inc. raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 3.7% in the third quarter. Wesbanco Bank Inc. now owns 295,274 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $127,056,000 after buying an additional 10,611 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $416.32 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.27, a current ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. Microsoft has a 12-month low of $324.39 and a 12-month high of $468.35. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $417.92 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $424.65. The firm has a market cap of $3.09 trillion, a PE ratio of 35.25, a PEG ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.90.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 firm had revenue of $64.73 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $64.38 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 35.95% and a net margin of 35.96%. The company’s revenue was up 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.69 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Microsoft will post 13.02 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft declared that its board has authorized a share repurchase plan on Monday, September 16th that permits the company to buyback $60.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the software giant to purchase up to 1.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be paid a $0.83 dividend. This is a positive change from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.80%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is presently 25.40%.

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.