Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Receives Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) have been given a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the thirty ratings firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-six have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year target price among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $493.89.

Several analysts have recently issued reports on MSFT shares. KeyCorp reissued a “sector weight” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Mizuho lowered their price target on Microsoft from $510.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 30th. DA Davidson upgraded Microsoft from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $425.00 to $450.00 in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their target price on Microsoft from $500.00 to $450.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Barclays dropped their target price on Microsoft from $475.00 to $430.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 21st.

Microsoft Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ MSFT opened at $391.16 on Thursday. Microsoft has a 52-week low of $344.79 and a 52-week high of $468.35. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $384.46 and a 200-day moving average of $411.17. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.91 trillion, a PE ratio of 31.49, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a quick ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The software giant reported $3.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.15 by $0.08. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.43% and a return on equity of 33.36%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.93 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Microsoft will post 13.08 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 15th will be given a dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.85%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is currently 26.73%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MSFT. 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 valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Ball & Co Wealth Management Inc. bought a new stake in Microsoft during the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Microsoft during the 4th quarter valued at $38,000. IFS Advisors LLC raised its stake in Microsoft by 53.8% during the 4th quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 100 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Finally, LSV Asset Management bought a new stake in Microsoft during the 4th quarter valued at $44,000. 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.