Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Trading 0.4% Higher – Here’s What Happened

Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)’s stock price traded up 0.4% on Monday . The stock traded as high as $395.40 and last traded at $393.01. 5,859,421 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 70% from the average session volume of 19,283,905 shares. The stock had previously closed at $391.26.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MSFT has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $509.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Tigress Financial increased their target price on shares of Microsoft from $550.00 to $595.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. Guggenheim reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Friday, January 24th. DA Davidson raised Microsoft from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $425.00 to $450.00 in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on Microsoft from $515.00 to $475.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $510.59.

Microsoft Stock Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $2.92 trillion, a P/E ratio of 31.61, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.92. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $408.82 and its 200 day simple moving average is $419.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 1.34.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The software giant reported $3.23 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 period last year, the company posted $2.93 EPS. Research analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Mascagni Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at about $3,548,000. Prostatis Group LLC grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Prostatis Group LLC now owns 6,007 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $2,532,000 after purchasing an additional 112 shares in the last quarter. Nestegg Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth approximately $419,000. Fairtree Asset Management Pty Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $4,452,000. Finally, M1 Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,830,000. 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.