Wells Fargo & Company Has Lowered Expectations for Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Stock Price

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) had its target price cut by Wells Fargo & Company from $515.00 to $500.00 in a note issued to investors on Monday, Marketbeat.com reports. The firm currently has an “overweight” rating on the software giant’s stock. Wells Fargo & Company‘s price objective indicates a potential upside of 29.62% from the company’s current price.

Several other brokerages also recently weighed in on MSFT. Westpark Capital began coverage on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Guggenheim reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on Microsoft from $540.00 to $530.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. UBS Group lowered their price target on Microsoft from $525.00 to $510.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $475.00 price objective (down previously from $500.00) on shares of Microsoft in a report on Monday, April 7th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $502.83.

Microsoft Stock Down 0.5 %

Shares of NASDAQ MSFT opened at $385.73 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.87 trillion, a PE ratio of 31.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. Microsoft has a 12-month low of $344.79 and a 12-month high of $468.35. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $390.78 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $413.81.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The software giant reported $3.23 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.15 by $0.08. Microsoft had a return on equity of 33.36% and a net margin of 35.43%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.93 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Microsoft will post 13.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Microsoft

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth about $44,343,058,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in Microsoft by 40,290.4% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 46,695,303 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $17,528,950,000 after purchasing an additional 46,579,693 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its position in Microsoft by 48,526.1% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 38,501,645 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $16,567,258,000 after purchasing an additional 38,422,466 shares in the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 34,643.3% in the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 16,837,278 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $7,096,913,000 after buying an additional 16,788,816 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 16.1% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 83,787,746 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $35,316,535,000 after buying an additional 11,600,470 shares during the period. 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.