Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Trading Up 1.4% – Here’s Why

Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)’s stock price was up 1.4% during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $438.50 and last traded at $437.93. Approximately 6,166,840 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 69% from the average daily volume of 20,137,863 shares. The stock had previously closed at $431.95.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have issued reports on MSFT. TD Cowen boosted their price target on Microsoft from $470.00 to $495.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. Piper Sandler lowered their price target on Microsoft from $485.00 to $470.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Citigroup lowered their price target on Microsoft from $500.00 to $497.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $506.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Tuesday, September 17th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company restated a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Friday, October 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and twenty-six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $502.97.

Microsoft Trading Up 1.2 %

The company has a market capitalization of $3.25 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.08, a PEG ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 0.90. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $420.84 and a 200-day moving average price of $424.65. The company has a current ratio of 1.27, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $2.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.90 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $64.73 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $64.38 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 35.95% and a net margin of 35.96%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.69 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 13.02 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be paid a dividend of $0.83 per share. 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.76%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 28.11%.

Microsoft announced that its board has authorized a stock repurchase program on Monday, September 16th that authorizes the company to buyback $60.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the software giant to repurchase up to 1.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In other news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 78,353 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 864,327 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $353,189,942.01. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief marketing officer now owns 50,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,552,000. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Satya Nadella sold 78,353 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 864,327 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $353,189,942.01. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 190,629 shares of company stock valued at $77,916,485 in the last three months. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Microsoft

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc boosted its position in Microsoft by 169.2% during the second quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 70 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP bought a new position in Microsoft during the second quarter valued at about $45,000. Richardson Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Microsoft by 1,290.0% during the first quarter. Richardson Capital Management LLC now owns 139 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $59,000 after buying an additional 129 shares in the last quarter. Innealta Capital LLC bought a new position in Microsoft during the second quarter valued at about $75,000. Finally, Bellevue Group AG raised its holdings in Microsoft by 47.5% during the first quarter. Bellevue Group AG now owns 180 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $76,000 after buying an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. 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.