Evercore ISI Raises Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Price Target to $485.00

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) had its price target increased by Evercore ISI from $475.00 to $485.00 in a research note released on Friday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an outperform rating on the software giant’s stock.

MSFT has been the subject of a number of other reports. StockNews.com cut Microsoft from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note on Thursday, February 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $465.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Monday, April 1st. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Microsoft from $421.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Macquarie lifted their price target on Microsoft from $430.00 to $450.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reaffirmed a buy rating and set a $455.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $452.61.

Microsoft Stock Up 1.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ MSFT opened at $406.32 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $414.48 and a 200 day moving average price of $388.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a current ratio of 1.24. The stock has a market cap of $3.02 trillion, a P/E ratio of 35.18, a P/E/G ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 0.89. Microsoft has a 52-week low of $295.25 and a 52-week high of $430.82.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The software giant reported $2.94 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.81 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $61.86 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $60.86 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 36.43% and a return on equity of 37.54%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 17.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.45 EPS. Analysts expect that Microsoft will post 11.71 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 16th will be given a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.74%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 15th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is presently 25.97%.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In related news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 3,303 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $406.12, for a total transaction of $1,341,414.36. Following the sale, the insider now owns 570,826 shares in the company, valued at approximately $231,823,855.12. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 3,303 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $406.12, for a total value of $1,341,414.36. Following the sale, the insider now owns 570,826 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $231,823,855.12. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 45,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $411.78, for a total value of $18,530,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 574,129 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $236,414,839.62. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 1,070,258 shares of company stock valued at $30,690,456. 0.03% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Microsoft

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Friedenthal Financial acquired a new position in Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $45,000. Neo Ivy Capital Management acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft during the 4th quarter valued at $58,000. Richardson Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Microsoft by 1,290.0% during the first quarter. Richardson Capital Management LLC now owns 139 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $59,000 after acquiring an additional 129 shares in the last quarter. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Microsoft by 89.0% in the third quarter. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC now owns 223 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $70,000 after purchasing an additional 105 shares during the period. Finally, PayPay Securities Corp increased its stake in Microsoft by 23.7% in the fourth quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 188 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $71,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.