Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Reaches New 52-Week High – Here’s What Happened

Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) hit a new 52-week high on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $468.75 and last traded at $468.11, with a volume of 5762981 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $463.87.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Scotiabank increased their price target on Microsoft from $470.00 to $500.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on Microsoft from $480.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Citigroup lifted their target price on Microsoft from $480.00 to $540.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 15th. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Microsoft from $500.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $513.13.

Microsoft Stock Performance

The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $417.20 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $416.68. The company has a quick ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The firm has a market cap of $3.50 trillion, a PE ratio of 37.87, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.03.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.22 by $0.24. Microsoft had a return on equity of 33.36% and a net margin of 35.43%. The business had revenue of $70.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $68.54 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.94 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be given a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.71%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is currently 25.66%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $463.00, for a total transaction of $1,389,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 43,930 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,339,590. This represents a 6.39% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 75,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $436.05, for a total value of $32,703,750.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 476,999 shares in the company, valued at $207,995,413.95. This represents a 13.59% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 135,743 shares of company stock valued at $60,224,683 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Microsoft

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Nicola Wealth Management LTD. raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 6.4% during the 1st quarter. Nicola Wealth Management LTD. now owns 73,560 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $27,614,000 after purchasing an additional 4,400 shares during the period. eCIO Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the 1st quarter valued at $258,000. Cim LLC raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 3.2% during the 1st quarter. Cim LLC now owns 12,883 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $4,836,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares during the period. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 32.7% during the 1st quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 2,017 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $757,000 after purchasing an additional 497 shares during the period. Finally, Modern Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 39.3% during the 1st quarter. Modern Wealth Management LLC now owns 144,852 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $54,376,000 after purchasing an additional 40,860 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by 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.