Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) has been given a $62.00 price objective by equities researchers at Jefferies Group in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday. The brokerage presently has a “sell” rating on the software giant’s stock. Jefferies Group’s target price indicates a potential downside of 33.91% from the stock’s current price.
Other research analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. Stifel Nicolaus reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, October 12th. Canaccord Genuity upgraded Microsoft from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $76.00 to $86.00 in a report on Thursday, October 5th. Credit Suisse Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $95.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a report on Friday, October 27th. KeyCorp reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $94.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a report on Friday, October 27th. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group set a $88.00 price objective on Microsoft and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 19th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and thirty have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. The stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $98.43.
Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) traded down $1.20 on Thursday, hitting $93.81. The stock had a trading volume of 38,976,002 shares, compared to its average volume of 27,831,508. Microsoft has a fifty-two week low of $62.75 and a fifty-two week high of $96.07. The stock has a market cap of $729,070.00, a P/E ratio of 64.29, a P/E/G ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a current ratio of 3.12, a quick ratio of 3.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91.
In other Microsoft news, EVP Christopher C. Capossela sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.48, for a total transaction of $333,920.00. Following the completion of the sale, 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Frank H. Brod sold 18,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 4th. The stock was 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. Insiders have sold a total of 30,000 shares of company stock valued at $2,498,220 over the last ninety days. 1.49% of the stock is owned by insiders.
A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 4.6% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 564,052,011 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $38,880,105,000 after buying an additional 25,053,413 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 212.3% in the 2nd quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 69,663,044 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $4,801,874,000 after buying an additional 47,353,245 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 609.4% in the 2nd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 49,174,883 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $3,389,625,000 after buying an additional 42,243,011 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 38,463,571 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $2,864,881,000 after buying an additional 774,549 shares during the period. Finally, Schwab Charles Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 3.8% in the 4th quarter. Schwab Charles Investment Management Inc. now owns 31,523,813 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $2,696,444,000 after buying an additional 1,148,178 shares during the period. 73.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.
TRADEMARK VIOLATION WARNING: “Microsoft (MSFT) PT Set at $62.00 by Jefferies Group” was first posted by American Banking and Market News and is the property of of American Banking and Market News. If you are viewing this article on another site, it was illegally stolen and reposted in violation of United States & international trademark and copyright laws. The original version of this article can be accessed at https://www.americanbankingnews.com/2018/02/01/microsoft-msft-pt-set-at-62-00-by-jefferies-group.html.
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.
