UBS Group Cuts Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Price Target to $480.00

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) had its price objective lowered by UBS Group from $510.00 to $480.00 in a report released on Monday morning, Marketbeat.com reports. UBS Group currently has a buy rating on the software giant’s stock.

Other equities analysts also recently issued reports about the company. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on Microsoft from $540.00 to $530.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Microsoft from $515.00 to $500.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Tigress Financial boosted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $550.00 to $595.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $475.00 target price (down from $500.00) on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $499.97.

Microsoft Price Performance

Microsoft stock opened at $371.61 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.76 trillion, a P/E ratio of 29.92, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.00. Microsoft has a 12-month low of $344.79 and a 12-month high of $468.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 1.34. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $390.02 and its two-hundred day moving average is $413.52.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The software giant reported $3.23 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 in the previous year, the company posted $2.93 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Microsoft will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.89%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is currently 26.73%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Microsoft

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 684,071,705 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $288,336,224,000 after purchasing an additional 10,431,988 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 168,128,024 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $70,720,874,000 after buying an additional 3,103,212 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the 4th quarter valued at about $44,343,058,000. Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in Microsoft by 16.1% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 83,787,746 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $35,316,535,000 after acquiring an additional 11,600,470 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 9.8% in the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 59,961,337 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $25,273,704,000 after acquiring an additional 5,370,546 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently 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.