Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Stock Price Up 0.6% – Still a Buy?

Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) rose 0.6% on Monday . The stock traded as high as $458.66 and last traded at $456.86. Approximately 6,145,851 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 71% from the average daily volume of 21,506,992 shares. The stock had previously closed at $454.27.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently commented on MSFT shares. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on Microsoft from $475.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Piper Sandler reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. StockNews.com raised Microsoft from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, May 5th. Westpark Capital reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $510.30.

Microsoft Price Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $3.40 trillion, a P/E ratio of 36.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.99. The business has a fifty day moving average of $395.33 and a 200-day moving average of $412.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a current ratio of 1.35.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.22 by $0.24. The firm had revenue of $70.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $68.54 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 33.36% and a net margin of 35.43%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.94 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.72%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is 25.66%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 6,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $433.17, for a total value of $2,599,020.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 471,036 shares in the company, valued at approximately $204,038,664.12. This represents a 1.26% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Amy Coleman sold 13,243 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $452.01, for a total value of $5,985,968.43. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 43,100 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,481,631. This represents a 23.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 94,243 shares of company stock worth $41,288,738 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Newton One Investments LLC raised its stake in Microsoft by 66.7% during the 1st quarter. Newton One Investments LLC now owns 75 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 30 shares during the period. Ball & Co Wealth Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth approximately $31,000. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth approximately $38,000. IFS Advisors LLC grew its position in Microsoft by 53.8% during the fourth quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 100 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Finally, LSV Asset Management bought a new position in Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at about $44,000. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.