Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) has been given a $97.00 target price by Atlantic Securities in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday. The brokerage currently has a “neutral” rating on the software giant’s stock. Atlantic Securities’ price target points to a potential upside of 2.65% from the company’s current price.
Several other research firms also recently commented on MSFT. Sanford C. Bernstein restated an “outperform” rating and set a $118.00 target price (up previously from $109.00) on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday. UBS Group set a $110.00 target price on Microsoft and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Macquarie set a $95.00 target price on Microsoft and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday. Jefferies Group set a $62.00 target price on Microsoft and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $110.00 target price on Microsoft and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and thirty have given a buy rating to the stock. The company has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $98.43.
Shares of Microsoft (NASDAQ MSFT) traded down $0.51 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $94.50. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 36,943,652 shares, compared to its average volume of 27,636,932. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 3.12 and a quick ratio of 3.06. Microsoft has a 52 week low of $62.75 and a 52 week high of $96.07. The company 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.
In other news, EVP Christopher C. Capossela sold 4,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on Friday, November 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.46, for a total value of $333,840.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 189,278 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,797,141.88. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Frank H. Brod sold 18,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on 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. Insiders sold a total of 30,000 shares of company stock valued at $2,498,220 over the last three months. Insiders own 1.49% of the company’s stock.
Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 4.6% during the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 564,052,011 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $38,880,105,000 after purchasing an additional 25,053,413 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 212.3% during the second quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 69,663,044 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $4,801,874,000 after purchasing an additional 47,353,245 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 609.4% during the second quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 49,174,883 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $3,389,625,000 after purchasing an additional 42,243,011 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 2.1% during the third quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 38,463,571 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $2,864,881,000 after purchasing an additional 774,549 shares during the period. Finally, Schwab Charles Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 3.8% during the fourth quarter. Schwab Charles Investment Management Inc. now owns 31,523,813 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $2,696,444,000 after purchasing an additional 1,148,178 shares during the period. 73.26% of the stock is 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.
