Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Stock Price Up 0.4% – Here’s Why

Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)’s stock price traded up 0.4% during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $395.40 and last traded at $393.01. 5,859,421 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 70% from the average session volume of 19,283,905 shares. The stock had previously closed at $391.26.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently commented on MSFT. UBS Group dropped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $525.00 to $510.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $520.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a report on Monday, January 27th. StockNews.com downgraded Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $509.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, Tigress Financial upped their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $550.00 to $595.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Microsoft has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $510.59.

Microsoft Trading Up 0.5 %

The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $407.93 and a 200 day simple moving average of $419.53. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.94 trillion, a PE ratio of 31.82, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.92.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The software giant reported $3.23 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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. Analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be issued a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.84%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. Microsoft’s payout ratio is 26.73%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MSFT. BCK Partners Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 1.8% in the third quarter. BCK Partners Inc. now owns 1,353 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $582,000 after buying an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. Muirfield Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Muirfield Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,427 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $1,866,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares during the period. Retirement Financial Solutions LLC boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Retirement Financial Solutions LLC now owns 1,050 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $443,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc grew its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 25 shares during the period. Finally, Sequent Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 1.3% during the third quarter. Sequent Asset Management LLC now owns 1,983 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $853,000 after buying an additional 25 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.