Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Trading Up 1% – Should You Buy?

Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)’s share price was up 1% during trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $486.03 and last traded at $483.47. Approximately 23,205,828 shares changed hands during trading, an increase of 4% from the average daily volume of 22,238,891 shares. The stock had previously closed at $478.56.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on MSFT. Wolfe Research set a $675.00 target price on Microsoft and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 28th. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $650.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Raymond James Financial cut their target price on shares of Microsoft from $630.00 to $600.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. DA Davidson reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $650.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, December 4th. Finally, Rothschild & Co Redburn reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $500.00 price objective (down from $560.00) on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Tuesday, November 18th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-seven have given a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $632.34.

Microsoft Stock Performance

The company has a market cap of $3.56 trillion, a PE ratio of 34.03, a PEG ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.07. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $504.05 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $502.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a current ratio of 1.40 and a quick ratio of 1.39.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The software giant reported $4.13 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.65 by $0.48. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.71% and a return on equity of 32.45%. The business had revenue of $77.67 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $75.49 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $3.30 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 18.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 19th will be given a dividend of $0.91 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 19th. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.8%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is presently 25.89%.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 38,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $518.64, for a total transaction of $19,967,640.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 461,597 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $239,402,668.08. This represents a 7.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Judson Althoff sold 12,750 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $491.52, for a total value of $6,266,880.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 129,349 shares in the company, valued at $63,577,620.48. The trade was a 8.97% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 54,100 shares of company stock valued at $27,598,872 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Microsoft

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 51.3% in the second 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 during the last quarter. Bulwark Capital Corp purchased a new stake in Microsoft during the 2nd quarter worth about $32,000. Westend Capital Management LLC raised its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. Bayforest Capital Ltd purchased a new position in Microsoft in the 3rd quarter valued at about $38,000. Finally, Sellwood Investment Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the third quarter worth about $49,000. 71.13% of the stock is 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.