Wells Fargo & Company Cuts Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Price Target to $500.00

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) had its price objective cut by Wells Fargo & Company from $515.00 to $500.00 in a research report report published on Monday, MarketBeat.com reports. They currently have an overweight rating on the software giant’s stock.

A number of other research analysts have also commented on the company. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Friday, January 24th. Loop Capital raised their price target on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. Mizuho cut their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $510.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $509.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, Wedbush cut their price target on Microsoft from $550.00 to $475.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. Four investment 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, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $499.97.

Microsoft Price Performance

NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $371.61 on Monday. The company has a market cap 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. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $390.02 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $413.52. Microsoft has a one year low of $344.79 and a one year 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.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The software giant reported $3.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.93 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Microsoft will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be given a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.89%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.73%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Microsoft

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Adamsbrown Wealth Consultants LLC raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Adamsbrown Wealth Consultants LLC now owns 5,967 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $2,515,000 after purchasing an additional 130 shares during the period. Oak Ridge Investments LLC grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 7.6% during the third quarter. Oak Ridge Investments LLC now owns 263,534 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $113,399,000 after buying an additional 18,544 shares during the last quarter. Focus Financial Network Inc. increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 2.0% during the third quarter. Focus Financial Network Inc. now owns 76,296 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $32,830,000 after acquiring an additional 1,489 shares in the last quarter. Campbell Wealth Management bought a new position in shares of Microsoft in the third quarter valued at approximately $3,314,000. Finally, Romano Brothers AND Company lifted its stake in Microsoft by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. Romano Brothers AND Company now owns 42,176 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $18,148,000 after acquiring an additional 962 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by 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.