Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) had its price objective increased by equities researchers at JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $78.00 to $87.00 in a research note issued on Thursday. The brokerage presently has a “neutral” rating on the software giant’s stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s price target suggests a potential downside of 5.77% from the stock’s previous close. The analysts noted that the move was a valuation call.
A number of other research analysts also recently commented on the company. Barclays reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $100.00 target price (up from $95.00) on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday. Instinet assumed coverage on Microsoft in a research report on Thursday. They set a “buy” rating for the company. Nomura assumed coverage on Microsoft in a research report on Tuesday. They set a “buy” rating and a $102.00 target price for the company. Goldman Sachs Group set a $100.00 target price on Microsoft and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Zacks Investment Research downgraded Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and thirty have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. The stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $89.88.
Microsoft (MSFT) traded up $0.51 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $92.33. The stock had a trading volume of 26,098,831 shares, compared to its average volume of 23,240,000. The company has a quick ratio of 3.06, a current ratio of 3.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91. The company has a market cap of $712,290.00, a P/E ratio of 31.19, a P/E/G ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 0.99. Microsoft has a 52-week low of $62.75 and a 52-week high of $93.43.
In other news, insider Frank H. Brod sold 18,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, December 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.15, for a total transaction of $1,496,700.00. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Frank H. Brod sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.08, for a total value of $1,261,200.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 116,205 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,770,516.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 45,000 shares of company stock worth $3,759,420 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 1.49% of the company’s stock.
Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Private Trust Co. NA boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 10.3% in the second quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 130,739 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $9,011,000 after acquiring an additional 12,214 shares in the last quarter. Capital Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 47.5% in the second quarter. Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 143,021 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $9,858,000 after acquiring an additional 46,027 shares in the last quarter. New England Research & Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 15.1% in the second quarter. New England Research & Management Inc. now owns 17,954 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,238,000 after acquiring an additional 2,350 shares in the last quarter. Covenant Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 0.5% in the second quarter. Covenant Asset Management LLC now owns 58,332 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $4,021,000 after acquiring an additional 280 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Smith Shellnut Wilson LLC ADV boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 13.5% in the second quarter. Smith Shellnut Wilson LLC ADV now owns 11,709 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $599,000 after acquiring an additional 1,390 shares in the last quarter. 73.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.
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Microsoft Company Profile
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.
