Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) had its price target lifted by Stifel Nicolaus from $92.00 to $105.00 in a research report issued on Thursday. The firm currently has a “buy” rating on the software giant’s stock. Stifel Nicolaus’ target price points to a potential upside of 10.51% from the stock’s previous close.
Several other equities research analysts have also recently commented on the company. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on Microsoft to $115.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 9th. Morningstar reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Monday, October 16th. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on Microsoft from $93.00 to $106.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 8th. UBS Group set a $105.00 price objective on Microsoft and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 9th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $88.00 price objective (up from $85.00) on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday, October 27th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and thirty have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. The company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $93.90.
Shares of Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) opened at $95.01 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 3.12, a quick ratio of 3.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91. Microsoft has a 12-month low of $62.75 and a 12-month high of $95.45. The company has a market capitalization of $732,960.00, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.10, a P/E/G ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 0.99.
In other news, EVP Christopher C. Capossela sold 4,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.48, for a total transaction of $333,920.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 185,278 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,467,007.44. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Frank H. Brod sold 18,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.15, for a total value of $1,496,700.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 30,000 shares of company stock worth $2,498,220. Insiders own 1.49% of the company’s stock.
Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of MSFT. ING Groep increased its stake in Microsoft by 20.5% in the 3rd quarter. ING Groep now owns 6,363,701 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $281,530,000 after acquiring an additional 1,081,801 shares during the last quarter. Meag Munich Ergo Kapitalanlagegesellschaft increased its stake in Microsoft by 31.1% in the 3rd quarter. Meag Munich Ergo Kapitalanlagegesellschaft now owns 1,255,137 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $55,251,000 after acquiring an additional 297,585 shares during the last quarter. Euclid Advisors LLC increased its stake in Microsoft by 24.6% in the 1st quarter. Euclid Advisors LLC now owns 672,938 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $37,166,000 after acquiring an additional 132,695 shares during the last quarter. First Manhattan Co. increased its stake in Microsoft by 1.4% in the 2nd quarter. First Manhattan Co. now owns 7,974,066 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $408,033,000 after acquiring an additional 108,933 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Baker Avenue Asset Management increased its stake in Microsoft by 7.6% in the 3rd quarter. Baker Avenue Asset Management now owns 130,371 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $5,770,000 after acquiring an additional 9,239 shares during the last quarter. 73.26% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.
About Microsoft
Microsoft Corporation is a technology company. The Company develops, licenses, and supports a range of software products, services and devices. The Company’s segments include Productivity and Business Processes, Intelligent Cloud and More Personal Computing. The Company’s products include operating systems; cross-device productivity applications; server applications; business solution applications; desktop and server management tools; software development tools; video games, and training and certification of computer system integrators and developers.
