Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Stock Price Up 0.1% – What’s Next?

Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) shot up 0.1% during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $425.98 and last traded at $425.13. 2,897,509 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 86% from the average session volume of 20,207,160 shares. The stock had previously closed at $424.60.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MSFT has been the subject of several research reports. TD Cowen lifted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $470.00 to $495.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. Citigroup decreased 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. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $480.00 to $510.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Wedbush reissued an “underperform” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday, October 18th. 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-eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $495.94.

Microsoft Stock Up 0.8 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 1.27 and a quick ratio of 1.27. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $420.59 and a 200-day moving average price of $424.59. 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.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued 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 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 in the prior year, the firm earned $2.69 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 13.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Investors 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 represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.78%. This is a positive change from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. Microsoft’s payout ratio is presently 28.74%.

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

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, CFO Amy Hood sold 38,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $410.55, for a total transaction of $15,600,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 496,369 shares in the company, valued at approximately $203,784,292.95. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, CFO Amy Hood sold 38,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 496,369 shares in the company, valued at $203,784,292.95. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 40,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $402.59, for a total transaction of $16,103,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 544,847 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $219,349,953.73. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 190,629 shares of company stock worth $77,916,485 over the last three months. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Microsoft

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of MSFT. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. boosted its stake 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 worth $1,647,000 after purchasing an additional 159 shares during the period. S.A. Mason LLC boosted its stake in Microsoft by 0.3% during the third 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 last quarter. Solidarity Wealth LLC increased its position in Microsoft by 25.6% in the third quarter. Solidarity Wealth LLC now owns 59,584 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $25,639,000 after purchasing an additional 12,138 shares during the last quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC now owns 65,630 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $28,241,000 after buying an additional 781 shares during the last quarter. Finally, JFS Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in Microsoft by 93.9% during the third quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 20,506 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $8,824,000 after purchasing an additional 9,928 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.