Microsoft’s (MSFT) “Hold” Rating Reaffirmed at Westpark Capital

Westpark Capital reiterated their hold rating on shares of Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) in a research note issued to investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports.

MSFT has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $475.00 price target (down previously from $500.00) on shares of Microsoft in a report on Monday, April 7th. StockNews.com lowered Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Microsoft from $465.00 to $475.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $500.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Piper Sandler dropped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $520.00 to $435.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $507.77.

Microsoft Trading Up 7.6 %

Shares of NASDAQ MSFT opened at $425.40 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $3.16 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.00. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $384.18 and its 200 day simple moving average is $411.01. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. Microsoft has a 12-month low of $344.79 and a 12-month high of $468.35.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.22 by $0.24. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.43% and a return on equity of 33.36%. The company had revenue of $70.07 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $68.54 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.94 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Microsoft will post 13.08 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be paid a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.78%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is presently 26.73%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Microsoft

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Newton One Investments LLC increased its position in Microsoft by 66.7% in the 1st quarter. Newton One Investments LLC now owns 75 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. Ball & Co Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in Microsoft in the fourth quarter worth approximately $31,000. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Microsoft in the fourth quarter worth approximately $38,000. IFS Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Microsoft by 53.8% in the fourth quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 100 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. Finally, LSV Asset Management bought a new stake in Microsoft in the fourth quarter worth approximately $44,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

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.