Jefferies Financial Group Reiterates “Buy” Rating for Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT)‘s stock had its “buy” rating restated by Jefferies Financial Group in a report issued on Wednesday,MarketScreener Latest Ratings reports. They currently have a $675.00 price target on the software giant’s stock. Jefferies Financial Group’s price target indicates a potential upside of 40.38% from the stock’s previous close.

Other analysts have also issued reports about the company. Evercore ISI set a $640.00 price objective on Microsoft in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday, October 24th. DA Davidson set a $650.00 price target on Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and set a $650.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $625.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-seven have assigned a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $634.33.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $480.84 on Wednesday. Microsoft has a twelve month low of $344.79 and a twelve month high of $555.45. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $507.85 and its 200-day moving average is $500.78. The company has a quick ratio of 1.39, a current ratio of 1.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.57 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.20, a PEG ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 1.07.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The software giant reported $4.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.65 by $0.48. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.71% and a return on equity of 32.45%. The business had revenue of $77.67 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $75.49 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $3.30 EPS. Microsoft’s revenue was up 18.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Microsoft will post 13.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 38,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $518.64, for a total transaction of $19,967,640.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 461,597 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $239,402,668.08. This represents a 7.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Judson Althoff sold 12,750 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $491.52, for a total value of $6,266,880.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 129,349 shares in the company, valued at approximately $63,577,620.48. The trade was a 8.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Microsoft

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC boosted its stake in Microsoft by 51.3% in the 2nd quarter. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC now owns 59 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the period. Bulwark Capital Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the second quarter worth about $32,000. Westend Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 386.7% in the second quarter. Westend Capital Management LLC now owns 73 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares during the period. Bayforest Capital Ltd purchased a new position in Microsoft during the third quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Finally, LSV Asset Management purchased a new position in Microsoft during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $44,000. 71.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.