Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Rating Reiterated by Morgan Stanley

Morgan Stanley restated their overweight rating on shares of Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) in a research report sent to investors on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a $506.00 price target on the software giant’s stock.

Several other analysts have also commented on the company. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an outperform rating and set a $500.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on Microsoft from $465.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research note on Friday, July 12th. Truist Financial restated a buy rating and issued a $600.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Monday, June 17th. New Street Research started coverage on Microsoft in a research note on Monday, June 10th. They issued a buy rating and a $570.00 target price for the company. Finally, UBS Group reduced their target price on Microsoft from $520.00 to $510.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $494.72.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of MSFT opened at $435.27 on Tuesday. Microsoft has a 12 month low of $309.45 and a 12 month high of $468.35. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $420.92 and a 200-day moving average price of $424.03. The company has a current ratio of 1.27, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The firm has a market cap of $3.24 trillion, a PE ratio of 37.69, a P/E/G ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 0.90.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $2.95 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.90 by $0.05. Microsoft had a return on equity of 35.95% and a net margin of 35.96%. The firm had revenue of $64.73 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $64.38 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.69 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Microsoft will post 13.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft announced that its board has approved a share buyback plan on Monday, September 16th that allows the company to buyback $60.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the software giant to purchase up to 1.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be given a dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. This is a boost from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.76%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 25.97%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 40,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $402.59, for a total transaction of $16,103,600.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 544,847 shares in the company, valued at approximately $219,349,953.73. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 17,378 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $411.85, for a total value of $7,157,129.30. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 150,161 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $61,843,807.85. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 40,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $402.59, for a total transaction of $16,103,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 544,847 shares in the company, valued at $219,349,953.73. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 190,629 shares of company stock worth $77,916,485 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Microsoft in the 4th quarter worth approximately $35,920,047,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Microsoft by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 664,908,939 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $250,032,357,000 after purchasing an additional 15,701,937 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB purchased a new position in Microsoft in the 1st quarter worth approximately $5,587,119,000. TCI Fund Management Ltd. purchased a new position in Microsoft in the 4th quarter worth approximately $4,000,376,000. Finally, Wulff Hansen & CO. lifted its stake in Microsoft by 47,196.6% in the 2nd quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 4,834,658 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $2,160,850,000 after purchasing an additional 4,824,436 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.