Microsoft’s (MSFT) “Overweight” Rating Reiterated at Piper Sandler

Piper Sandler reiterated their overweight rating on shares of Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) in a research report released on Monday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a $520.00 price objective on the software giant’s stock.

MSFT has been the topic of several other reports. StockNews.com raised Microsoft from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $548.00 to $540.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Citigroup decreased their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $497.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on Microsoft from $500.00 to $495.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-eight have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $512.66.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ MSFT opened at $442.33 on Monday. Microsoft has a 52 week low of $385.58 and a 52 week high of $468.35. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The firm has a market cap of $3.29 trillion, a P/E ratio of 36.50, a P/E/G ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 0.90. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $432.01 and its 200 day moving average price is $425.03.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The software giant reported $3.23 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.15 by $0.08. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.61% and a return on equity of 34.56%. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.93 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Microsoft will post 12.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 20th will be issued a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.75%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is presently 27.39%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $447.41, for a total transaction of $1,118,525.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 49,352 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,080,578.32. This trade represents a 4.82 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Christopher David Young sold 7,200 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $423.66, for a total transaction of $3,050,352.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 103,366 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $43,792,039.56. This trade represents a 6.51 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 41,200 shares of company stock valued at $17,383,892 over the last quarter. 0.03% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Microsoft

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Kickstand Ventures LLC. increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 19.3% during the fourth quarter. Kickstand Ventures LLC. now owns 2,763 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,165,000 after buying an additional 447 shares during the period. MGB Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Microsoft by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. MGB Wealth Management LLC now owns 26,925 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $11,362,000 after buying an additional 577 shares during the period. Beckerman Institutional LLC raised its position in Microsoft by 9.8% in the 4th quarter. Beckerman Institutional LLC now owns 1,951 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $822,000 after purchasing an additional 174 shares during the last quarter. Morris Financial Concepts Inc. grew its position in Microsoft by 3.7% during the 4th quarter. Morris Financial Concepts Inc. now owns 3,152 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,329,000 after purchasing an additional 113 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Howard Bailey Securities LLC raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 3.8% in the fourth quarter. Howard Bailey Securities LLC now owns 8,176 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $3,446,000 after buying an additional 297 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.