Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Stock Price Up 1.6% – What’s Next?

Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) rose 1.6% during mid-day trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $384.84 and last traded at $384.72. Approximately 4,621,811 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 80% from the average daily volume of 23,017,955 shares. The stock had previously closed at $378.77.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MSFT has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Loop Capital boosted their target price on Microsoft from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. DA Davidson raised Microsoft from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $425.00 to $450.00 in a research note on Thursday. StockNews.com lowered Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $550.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on Microsoft from $540.00 to $530.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $510.43.

Microsoft Stock Up 2.6 %

The firm has a 50-day moving average of $413.12 and a two-hundred day moving average of $420.77. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.89 trillion, a PE ratio of 31.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.92.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The software giant reported $3.23 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 period last year, the firm earned $2.93 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 EPS 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 given a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.85%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.73%.

Institutional Trading of Microsoft

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. WFA Asset Management Corp grew its stake in Microsoft by 27.0% in the first quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 1,016 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $427,000 after purchasing an additional 216 shares in the last quarter. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. grew its stake in Microsoft by 0.3% in the second quarter. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. now owns 12,658 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $5,658,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Beck Bode LLC grew its stake in Microsoft by 37.3% in the second quarter. Beck Bode LLC now owns 39,951 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $17,856,000 after purchasing an additional 10,847 shares in the last quarter. Goodman Advisory Group LLC grew its stake in Microsoft by 12.5% in the second quarter. Goodman Advisory Group LLC now owns 28,391 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $12,689,000 after purchasing an additional 3,153 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Texas Capital Bancshares Inc TX grew its stake in Microsoft by 3.9% in the second quarter. Texas Capital Bancshares Inc TX now owns 5,415 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $2,420,000 after purchasing an additional 204 shares in 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.