Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Given New $650.00 Price Target at DA Davidson

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) had its target price upped by DA Davidson from $600.00 to $650.00 in a research note published on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a buy rating on the software giant’s stock.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently commented on MSFT. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on Microsoft from $550.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday. Westpark Capital reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday. Cantor Fitzgerald boosted their target price on Microsoft from $581.00 to $639.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on Microsoft from $515.00 to $545.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Finally, Citigroup upped their price objective on Microsoft from $605.00 to $613.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $609.86.

Microsoft Price Performance

NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $533.50 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The company has a market capitalization of $3.97 trillion, a P/E ratio of 39.11, a P/E/G ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 1.04. Microsoft has a 12 month low of $344.79 and a 12 month high of $555.45. The business’s 50-day moving average is $488.46 and its 200 day moving average is $434.13.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $3.65 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.35 by $0.30. The company had revenue of $76.44 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $73.79 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 33.49% and a net margin of 36.15%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.95 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Microsoft will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 21st will be issued a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 21st. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.6%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 24.34%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Microsoft news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 6,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $433.17, for a total value of $2,599,020.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 471,036 shares in the company, valued at $204,038,664.12. The trade was a 1.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,500 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $453.77, for a total value of $9,756,055.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 134,888 shares in the company, valued at $61,208,127.76. This trade represents a 13.75% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 60,743 shares of company stock worth $27,520,933. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Microsoft

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MSFT. WFA Asset Management Corp boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 27.0% in the first quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 1,016 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $427,000 after acquiring an additional 216 shares in the last quarter. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.3% during the second quarter. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. now owns 12,658 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $5,658,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Discipline Wealth Solutions LLC raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 410.4% in the 3rd quarter. Discipline Wealth Solutions LLC now owns 2,659 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $1,144,000 after purchasing an additional 2,138 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Group Ltd. raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Wealth Group Ltd. now owns 2,374 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $1,000,000 after purchasing an additional 28 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tallon Kerry Patrick purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,375,000. 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.