Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Price Target Cut to $510.00 by Analysts at UBS Group

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) had its price target trimmed by UBS Group from $525.00 to $510.00 in a research report sent to investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a buy rating on the software giant’s stock.

A number of other research analysts also recently commented on the stock. Loop Capital upped their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of Microsoft from $540.00 to $530.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Mizuho dropped their price objective on Microsoft from $510.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $509.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, KeyCorp raised their price objective on Microsoft from $490.00 to $505.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $509.72.

Microsoft Stock Performance

NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $414.99 on Thursday. Microsoft has a 1-year low of $385.58 and a 1-year high of $468.35. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $432.55 and a 200-day simple moving average of $424.95. The firm has a market cap of $3.09 trillion, a PE ratio of 34.24, a P/E/G ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.30 and a quick ratio of 1.29.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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 34.56% and a net margin of 35.61%. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.93 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Microsoft will post 12.9 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 20th will be issued a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.80%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is presently 26.73%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 1,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $414.72, for a total value of $414,720.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer now owns 57,511 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,850,961.92. This trade represents a 1.71 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $417.00, for a total value of $10,425,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 117,294 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $48,911,598. This trade represents a 17.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 41,200 shares of company stock valued at $17,383,892 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. WFA Asset Management Corp increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 27.0% in the 1st quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 1,016 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $427,000 after acquiring an additional 216 shares during the period. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.3% during the second 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 during the last quarter. Nicholas Investment Partners LP boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 3.0% during the second quarter. Nicholas Investment Partners LP now owns 39,743 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $17,763,000 after buying an additional 1,164 shares during the period. Crew Capital Management Ltd. grew its holdings in Microsoft by 2.1% in the 2nd quarter. Crew Capital Management Ltd. now owns 10,860 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $4,854,000 after buying an additional 225 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wealth Advisory Solutions LLC increased its position in Microsoft by 0.3% in the 2nd quarter. Wealth Advisory Solutions LLC now owns 12,379 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $5,533,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.