Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) had its target price lifted by analysts at Loop Capital from $500.00 to $550.00 in a report released on Monday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a "buy" rating on the software giant's stock. Loop Capital's price objective points to a potential upside of 25.97% from the company's previous close.
Several other brokerages have also commented on MSFT. Mizuho upped their price target on Microsoft from $480.00 to $510.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Truist Financial reissued a "buy" rating and set a $600.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Monday, October 28th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $515.00 to $500.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. KeyCorp raised their target price on shares of Microsoft from $490.00 to $505.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $525.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $509.90.
NASDAQ MSFT opened at $436.60 on Monday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $427.02 and a 200-day moving average of $428.42. 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 has a 12 month low of $366.50 and a 12 month high of $468.35. The company has a market cap of $3.25 trillion, a P/E ratio of 36.02, a P/E/G ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.90.
Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.10 by $0.20. The company had revenue of $65.59 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $64.57 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.61% and a return on equity of 34.56%. Microsoft's revenue was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.99 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Microsoft will post 12.93 earnings per share for the current year.
Microsoft declared that its board has approved a stock 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 purchase up to 1.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually a sign that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.
Insider Buying and Selling
In other Microsoft news, EVP Christopher David Young sold 7,200 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $423.66, for a total transaction of $3,050,352.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 103,366 shares of the company's stock, valued at $43,792,039.56. The trade was a 6.51 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the firm'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 transaction of $10,425,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 117,294 shares in the company, valued at $48,911,598. The trade was a 17.57 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 41,200 shares of company stock valued at $17,383,892. Insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.
Institutional Inflows and Outflows
Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Net Worth Advisory Group acquired a new position in Microsoft during the 3rd quarter valued at about $2,645,000. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp lifted its position in Microsoft by 1.6% in the second quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 1,975,200 shares of the software giant's stock worth $882,816,000 after purchasing an additional 31,401 shares during the period. Jacobs & Co. CA boosted its stake in Microsoft by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Jacobs & Co. CA now owns 96,021 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $41,318,000 after purchasing an additional 880 shares in the last quarter. Evernest Financial Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 389.2% in the 3rd quarter. Evernest Financial Advisors LLC now owns 53,770 shares of the software giant's stock worth $23,137,000 after buying an additional 42,778 shares in the last quarter. Finally, New Harbor Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 55.9% in the second quarter. New Harbor Financial Group LLC now owns 1,255 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $561,000 after buying an additional 450 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company's stock.
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.
Further Reading
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