Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Price Target Cut to $465.00 by Analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) had its price objective decreased by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $470.00 to $465.00 in a report released on Thursday, Benzinga reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. currently has an overweight rating on the software giant’s stock.

Several other research firms have also recently weighed in on MSFT. TD Cowen cut their price objective on Microsoft from $495.00 to $475.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. Mizuho upped their price target on Microsoft from $450.00 to $480.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. Wedbush restated an “underperform” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Friday, October 18th. DA Davidson lowered shares of Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $475.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. Finally, UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of Microsoft from $520.00 to $510.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and twenty-six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $503.03.

Microsoft Stock Up 1.0 %

Shares of Microsoft stock opened at $410.37 on Thursday. Microsoft has a 12-month low of $344.77 and a 12-month high of $468.35. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.05 trillion, a P/E ratio of 33.86, a PEG ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a quick ratio of 1.27, a current ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $420.69 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $424.71.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.10 by $0.20. The business had revenue of $65.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $64.57 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.61% and a return on equity of 34.56%. Microsoft’s revenue was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.99 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Microsoft will post 12.98 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be given a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. This is a positive change from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.81%. Microsoft’s payout ratio is 27.39%.

Microsoft announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback program 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 programs are usually a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In other news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 78,353 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $408.63, for a total value of $32,017,386.39. Following the transaction, 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 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 transaction of $1,027,600.00. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer now owns 50,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,552,000. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Satya Nadella sold 78,353 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $408.63, for a total transaction of $32,017,386.39. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 864,327 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $353,189,942.01. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 190,629 shares of company stock valued at $77,916,485. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Microsoft

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Arrow Financial Corp lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 1.6% during the third quarter. Arrow Financial Corp now owns 58,505 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $25,175,000 after acquiring an additional 942 shares during the period. Retirement Solution LLC raised its holdings in Microsoft by 33.1% during the 3rd quarter. Retirement Solution LLC now owns 39,510 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $17,001,000 after purchasing an additional 9,827 shares during the last quarter. Costello Asset Management INC lifted its position in Microsoft by 11.3% during the 3rd quarter. Costello Asset Management INC now owns 23,189 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $9,978,000 after purchasing an additional 2,358 shares during the period. Ted Buchan & Co boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 4.0% in the 3rd quarter. Ted Buchan & Co now owns 5,971 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $2,569,000 after purchasing an additional 230 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Transcendent Capital Group LLC grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 6.5% during the 3rd quarter. Transcendent Capital Group LLC now owns 24,426 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $10,511,000 after buying an additional 1,483 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.