Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Given New $500.00 Price Target at Sanford C. Bernstein

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) had its price target reduced by Sanford C. Bernstein from $501.00 to $500.00 in a research note published on Friday, Benzinga reports. They currently have an outperform rating on the software giant’s stock.

Other analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. Truist Financial reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $600.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $500.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $515.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $506.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Tuesday, September 17th. Finally, Mizuho boosted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $450.00 to $480.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $495.94.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ MSFT traded up $3.42 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $428.15. 16,899,064 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 20,243,750. Microsoft has a 52 week low of $326.94 and a 52 week high of $468.35. The company has a quick ratio of 1.27, a current ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.18 trillion, a PE ratio of 37.07, a PEG ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 0.90. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $420.59 and its 200 day moving average price is $424.59.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $2.95 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.90 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $64.73 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $64.38 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.96% and a return on equity of 35.95%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.69 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Microsoft will post 13.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be issued a $0.83 dividend. This is an increase from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.78%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. Microsoft’s payout ratio is currently 28.74%.

Microsoft announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase plan on Monday, September 16th that authorizes the company to repurchase $60.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the software giant to purchase up to 1.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, CFO Amy Hood sold 38,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $410.55, for a total value of $15,600,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 496,369 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $203,784,292.95. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In related news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of Microsoft 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 completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 50,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,552,000. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Amy Hood sold 38,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $410.55, for a total transaction of $15,600,900.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 496,369 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $203,784,292.95. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 190,629 shares of company stock worth $77,916,485. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Microsoft

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. boosted its position in Microsoft by 4.3% in the 3rd quarter. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. now owns 3,828 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $1,647,000 after buying an additional 159 shares during the period. S.A. Mason LLC boosted its position in Microsoft by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. S.A. Mason LLC now owns 16,197 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $6,970,000 after buying an additional 46 shares during the period. Solidarity Wealth LLC boosted its position in Microsoft by 25.6% in the 3rd quarter. Solidarity Wealth LLC now owns 59,584 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $25,639,000 after buying an additional 12,138 shares during the period. Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC boosted its position in Microsoft by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC now owns 65,630 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $28,241,000 after buying an additional 781 shares during the period. Finally, JFS Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in Microsoft by 93.9% in the 3rd quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 20,506 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $8,824,000 after buying an additional 9,928 shares during the period. 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.