Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Piper Sandler Analyst Says

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) had its price target boosted by analysts at Piper Sandler from $600.00 to $650.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “overweight” rating on the software giant’s stock. Piper Sandler’s price objective suggests a potential upside of 24.02% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other research analysts also recently issued reports on the stock. UBS Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $650.00 target price (up from $600.00) on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday. Benchmark restated a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Evercore ISI increased their price target on shares of Microsoft from $515.00 to $545.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 28th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $609.86.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Microsoft stock opened at $524.11 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. Microsoft has a 1 year low of $344.79 and a 1 year high of $555.45. The company has a market cap of $3.90 trillion, a PE ratio of 38.42, a PEG ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 1.06. The company’s 50-day moving average is $489.94 and its two-hundred day moving average is $434.88.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $3.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.35 by $0.30. Microsoft had a net margin of 36.15% and a return on equity of 32.44%. The company had revenue of $76.44 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $73.79 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.95 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 18.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that Microsoft will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In other news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $453.77, for a total transaction of $9,756,055.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 134,888 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $61,208,127.76. This trade represents a 13.75% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 6,000 shares of the firm’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 transaction of $2,599,020.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 471,036 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $204,038,664.12. This represents a 1.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 60,743 shares of company stock worth $27,520,933. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Microsoft

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in MSFT. Newton One Investments LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 66.7% in the 1st quarter. Newton One Investments LLC now owns 75 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. Ball & Co Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Bulwark Capital Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Westend Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 386.7% in the 2nd quarter. Westend Capital Management LLC now owns 73 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. Finally, LSV Asset Management acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $44,000. 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.