Brokerages Set Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) PT at $510.59

Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) have been assigned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the thirty-one ratings firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and twenty-eight have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $508.86.

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price objective on Microsoft from $550.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday. Loop Capital increased their target price on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. Guggenheim restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $515.00 to $475.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Scotiabank started coverage on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, March 20th. They issued a “sector outperform” rating and a $470.00 target price on the stock.

Microsoft Trading Up 1.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ MSFT opened at $382.19 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $403.52 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $418.45. The stock has a market cap of $2.84 trillion, a P/E ratio of 30.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.92. Microsoft has a 52-week low of $367.24 and a 52-week high of $468.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a current ratio of 1.35.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The software giant reported $3.23 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.15 by $0.08. Microsoft had a return on equity of 33.36% and a net margin of 35.43%. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.93 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Microsoft will post 13.08 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 15th will be given a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.87%. Microsoft’s payout ratio is 26.73%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Microsoft

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of MSFT. Centre Asset Management LLC grew its position in Microsoft by 17.3% in the 1st quarter. Centre Asset Management LLC now owns 53,846 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $20,213,000 after purchasing an additional 7,946 shares in the last quarter. Hobart Private Capital LLC lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 61.2% during the 1st quarter. Hobart Private Capital LLC now owns 3,533 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $1,326,000 after buying an additional 1,341 shares during the last quarter. Modus Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 0.5% during the 1st quarter. Modus Advisors LLC now owns 16,687 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $6,264,000 after buying an additional 81 shares in the last quarter. Neville Rodie & Shaw Inc. grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.3% in the first quarter. Neville Rodie & Shaw Inc. now owns 173,485 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $65,125,000 after purchasing an additional 544 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB grew its holdings in Microsoft by 2.7% during the 1st quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 387,654 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $145,521,000 after buying an additional 10,346 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Company Profile

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.