Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Up 1.4% – What’s Next?

Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) traded up 1.4% on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $384.42 and last traded at $385.54. 7,673,573 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 67% from the average session volume of 22,951,582 shares. The stock had previously closed at $380.16.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MSFT has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on Microsoft from $540.00 to $530.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Loop Capital boosted their target price on Microsoft from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $500.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and set a $550.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, Guggenheim restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Friday, January 24th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $509.54.

Microsoft Price Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $2.85 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.84, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.92. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $415.50 and its 200-day simple moving average is $421.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 1.34.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The software giant reported $3.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.15 by $0.08. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.43% and a return on equity of 33.36%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.93 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of MSFT. Ball & Co Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc boosted its position in Microsoft by 35.7% during the 3rd quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 95 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the period. Quarry LP acquired a new position in Microsoft in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $45,000. Finally, IFS Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 53.8% during the fourth quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 100 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Company Profile

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.