Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Trading Up 0.4% – Time to Buy?

Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) were up 0.4% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $420.59 and last traded at $419.66. Approximately 3,643,238 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 82% from the average daily volume of 20,363,721 shares. The stock had previously closed at $418.01.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on MSFT shares. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $495.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $500.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Oppenheimer cut shares of Microsoft from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. KeyCorp lifted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $490.00 to $505.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday, October 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and twenty-six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $503.03.

Microsoft Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a current ratio of 1.30. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $421.71 and its 200-day moving average price is $425.43. The company has a market capitalization of $3.17 trillion, a P/E ratio of 35.09, a PEG ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 0.91.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.10 by $0.20. The company had revenue of $65.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $64.57 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.61% and a return on equity of 34.56%. Microsoft’s quarterly revenue was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.99 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 12.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be issued a $0.83 dividend. This is a boost from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.78%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is currently 24.75%.

Microsoft declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback program on Monday, September 16th that allows the company to buyback $60.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the software giant to buy up to 1.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Microsoft news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 40,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $402.59, for a total transaction of $16,103,600.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 544,847 shares in the company, valued at $219,349,953.73. This represents a 6.84 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 40,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $402.59, for a total transaction of $16,103,600.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 544,847 shares in the company, valued at approximately $219,349,953.73. This trade represents a 6.84 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $411.04, for a total transaction of $1,027,600.00. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer now owns 50,000 shares in the company, valued at $20,552,000. This represents a 4.76 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 197,829 shares of company stock worth $80,966,837 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Microsoft

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in MSFT. WFA Asset Management Corp boosted its position in Microsoft by 27.0% in the first quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 1,016 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $427,000 after buying an additional 216 shares in the last quarter. Red Tortoise LLC boosted its position in Microsoft by 2.6% in the first quarter. Red Tortoise LLC now owns 4,288 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $1,804,000 after buying an additional 108 shares in the last quarter. United Capital Management of KS Inc. boosted its position in Microsoft by 0.5% in the first quarter. United Capital Management of KS Inc. now owns 37,106 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $15,611,000 after buying an additional 180 shares in the last quarter. Meadow Creek Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in Microsoft by 2.4% in the first quarter. Meadow Creek Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 10,887 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $4,580,000 after buying an additional 257 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wiser Wealth Management Inc boosted its position in Microsoft by 30.7% in the first quarter. Wiser Wealth Management Inc now owns 1,700 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $715,000 after buying an additional 399 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.