Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Trading 1.1% Higher – What’s Next?

Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)’s stock price traded up 1.1% on Monday . The stock traded as high as $393.89 and last traded at $392.74. 4,412,675 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 79% from the average session volume of 21,186,821 shares. The stock had previously closed at $388.45.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on MSFT shares. Bank of America lowered their price target on shares of Microsoft from $510.00 to $480.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Microsoft from $540.00 to $530.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. UBS Group reduced their price objective on Microsoft from $510.00 to $480.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $509.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, Loop Capital lifted their price target on Microsoft from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $502.83.

Microsoft Stock Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $2.87 trillion, a PE ratio of 31.06, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a current ratio of 1.35. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $390.78 and its two-hundred day moving average is $413.81.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The software giant reported $3.23 earnings per share 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 last year, the company earned $2.93 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.86%. Microsoft’s payout ratio is 26.73%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MSFT. WFA Asset Management Corp increased its stake in Microsoft by 27.0% in the first quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 1,016 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $427,000 after purchasing an additional 216 shares during the last quarter. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.3% in the 2nd quarter. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. now owns 12,658 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $5,658,000 after buying an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 2,799,261 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $1,204,664,000 after buying an additional 49,735 shares during the last quarter. Discipline Wealth Solutions LLC raised its stake in Microsoft by 410.4% during the 3rd quarter. Discipline Wealth Solutions LLC now owns 2,659 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,144,000 after acquiring an additional 2,138 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Swedbank AB boosted its stake in Microsoft by 0.4% in the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 13,689,356 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $5,890,530,000 after acquiring an additional 49,288 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.