Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Stock Price Up 1.7% – Should You Buy?

Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)’s stock price rose 1.7% on Thursday . The company traded as high as $489.60 and last traded at $483.98. Approximately 26,748,052 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 20% from the average daily volume of 22,268,795 shares. The stock had previously closed at $476.12.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently commented on MSFT shares. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $650.00 to $625.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Guggenheim set a $675.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, November 19th. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $675.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, December 3rd. Redburn Partners set a $560.00 price objective on Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald set a $639.00 target price on Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-seven have assigned a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Microsoft has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $631.03.

Microsoft Trading Up 1.7%

The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $501.05 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $502.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a current ratio of 1.40. The firm has a market cap of $3.60 trillion, a PE ratio of 34.42, a P/E/G ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 1.07.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The software giant reported $4.13 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.65 by $0.48. Microsoft had a return on equity of 32.45% and a net margin of 35.71%.The firm had revenue of $77.67 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $75.49 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.30 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 18.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 19th will be issued a $0.91 dividend. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 19th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is 25.89%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Judson Althoff sold 12,750 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $491.52, for a total transaction of $6,266,880.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 129,349 shares in the company, valued at $63,577,620.48. The trade was a 8.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 2,850 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $478.72, for a total transaction of $1,364,352.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 55,782 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,703,959.04. The trade was a 4.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 54,100 shares of company stock valued at $27,598,872 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of MSFT. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 51.3% during the 2nd quarter. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC now owns 59 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Bulwark Capital Corp purchased a new position in Microsoft during the second quarter worth approximately $32,000. Westend Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Microsoft by 386.7% in the second quarter. Westend Capital Management LLC now owns 73 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the period. Bayforest Capital Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the third quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Finally, LSV Asset Management acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth approximately $44,000. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.