Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-nine brokerages that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and twenty-six have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $510.96.

A number of brokerages recently commented on MSFT. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $500.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. DA Davidson reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $425.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on Microsoft from $475.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $509.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Friday, October 18th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $414.72, for a total value of $414,720.00. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer now owns 57,511 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,850,961.92. This trade represents a 1.71 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $417.00, for a total value of $10,425,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 117,294 shares in the company, valued at approximately $48,911,598. This represents a 17.57 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 34,000 shares of company stock valued at $14,333,540. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Microsoft

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth about $38,000. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc increased its position in Microsoft by 35.7% in the 3rd quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 95 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. IFS Advisors LLC increased its position in Microsoft by 53.8% in the 4th quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 100 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP acquired a new position in Microsoft during the 2nd quarter valued at about $45,000. Finally, Avondale Wealth Management boosted its stake in Microsoft by 144.4% during the 4th quarter. Avondale Wealth Management now owns 110 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Stock Down 0.6 %

Shares of Microsoft stock opened at $409.04 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. Microsoft has a 12 month low of $385.58 and a 12 month high of $468.35. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $430.67 and a 200 day simple moving average of $423.24. The stock has a market cap of $3.04 trillion, a PE ratio of 32.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.90.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The software giant reported $3.23 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.15 by $0.08. Microsoft had a return on equity of 33.36% and a net margin of 35.43%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.93 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Microsoft will post 13.07 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be paid a dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.81%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.73%.

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.