Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) PT Lowered to $475.00

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) had its target price reduced by stock analysts at Citigroup from $480.00 to $475.00 in a report released on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “buy” rating on the software giant’s stock. Citigroup’s target price would suggest a potential upside of 19.01% from the stock’s current price.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Microsoft from $465.00 to $520.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. DA Davidson reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $500.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Friday, March 15th. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $500.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $460.00 to $480.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Macquarie boosted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $430.00 to $450.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-five have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $432.13.

Microsoft Stock Down 1.3 %

NASDAQ MSFT opened at $399.12 on Thursday. Microsoft has a one year low of $275.37 and a one year high of $430.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a quick ratio of 1.20 and a current ratio of 1.22. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $414.86 and a 200 day moving average price of $384.83. The company has a market cap of $2.97 trillion, a P/E ratio of 36.09, a P/E/G ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.89.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 30th. The software giant reported $2.93 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.76 by $0.17. Microsoft had a net margin of 36.27% and a return on equity of 38.40%. The firm had revenue of $62.02 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $61.14 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.32 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.6% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Microsoft will post 11.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 3,303 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $406.12, for a total value of $1,341,414.36. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 570,826 shares in the company, valued at approximately $231,823,855.12. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Microsoft news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 3,303 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 570,826 shares in the company, valued at $231,823,855.12. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,955 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $403.96, for a total transaction of $8,868,941.80. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 159,764 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $64,538,265.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 1,070,258 shares of company stock valued at $30,690,456 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Microsoft

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in MSFT. Gunderson Capital Management Inc. increased its position in Microsoft by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Gunderson Capital Management Inc. now owns 24,887 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $9,359,000 after acquiring an additional 185 shares during the period. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 4.1% in the third quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 82,267 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $25,976,000 after purchasing an additional 3,209 shares during the period. Bailard Inc. raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 1.2% during the third quarter. Bailard Inc. now owns 470,301 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $148,497,000 after purchasing an additional 5,366 shares during the last quarter. RNC Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 10.4% during the fourth quarter. RNC Capital Management LLC now owns 69,053 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $25,967,000 after purchasing an additional 6,484 shares during the period. Finally, Independence Bank of Kentucky grew its position in Microsoft by 7.7% in the 3rd quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky now owns 17,471 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $5,516,000 after buying an additional 1,245 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

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.