Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Up 0.5% – Should You Buy?

Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) shares traded up 0.5% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $413.92 and last traded at $413.04. 6,105,448 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 73% from the average session volume of 22,406,855 shares. The stock had previously closed at $410.92.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MSFT has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Loop Capital upped their price objective on Microsoft from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $495.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $540.00 to $530.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. KeyCorp raised their target price on shares of Microsoft from $490.00 to $505.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, TD Cowen dropped their price target on Microsoft from $495.00 to $475.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $510.96.

Microsoft Trading Up 0.6 %

The firm has a market cap of $3.09 trillion, a P/E ratio of 33.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.90. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $431.86 and a 200-day simple moving average of $423.85. 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 posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The software giant reported $3.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 prior year, the company posted $2.93 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 13.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 20th will be given a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.80%. Microsoft’s payout ratio is 26.73%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Christopher David Young sold 7,200 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $423.66, for a total value of $3,050,352.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 103,366 shares in the company, valued at $43,792,039.56. This trade represents a 6.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $414.72, for a total transaction of $414,720.00. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer now owns 57,511 shares in the company, valued at $23,850,961.92. The trade was a 1.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 41,200 shares of company stock valued at $17,383,892. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Microsoft

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Washington Trust Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Washington Trust Advisors Inc. now owns 26,730 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $11,267,000 after purchasing an additional 599 shares in the last quarter. McDonough Capital Management Inc grew its holdings in Microsoft by 5.2% during the 4th quarter. McDonough Capital Management Inc now owns 27,836 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $11,733,000 after buying an additional 1,364 shares in the last quarter. Black Swift Group LLC increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 231.2% during the fourth quarter. Black Swift Group LLC now owns 15,241 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $6,424,000 after buying an additional 10,639 shares during the period. Townsend Asset Management Corp NC ADV lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Townsend Asset Management Corp NC ADV now owns 20,919 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $8,817,000 after buying an additional 123 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Promus Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,165,000. Hedge funds and other 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.