Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Trading Up 2.5% Following Strong Earnings

Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) rose 2.5% during mid-day trading on Friday after the company announced better than expected quarterly earnings. The stock traded as high as $413.00 and last traded at $408.85. Approximately 14,355,746 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 34% from the average daily volume of 21,911,654 shares. The stock had previously closed at $399.04.

The software giant reported $2.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.81 by $0.13. Microsoft had a return on equity of 38.40% and a net margin of 36.27%. The company had revenue of $61.86 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $60.86 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.45 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 17.0% compared to the same quarter last year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 15th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.73%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 27.12%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently issued reports on MSFT shares. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Microsoft from $460.00 to $480.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. Citigroup lowered their price objective on Microsoft from $480.00 to $475.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Microsoft from $455.00 to $465.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. UBS Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $480.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, Macquarie upped their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $430.00 to $450.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Four equities research 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.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $441.80.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,955 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $403.96, for a total value of $8,868,941.80. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 159,764 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $64,538,265.44. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Microsoft news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,955 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $403.96, for a total transaction of $8,868,941.80. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 159,764 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $64,538,265.44. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Corp Microsoft sold 1,000,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $1.95, for a total transaction of $1,950,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 11,677,398 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,770,926.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 1,070,258 shares of company stock worth $30,690,456. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Microsoft

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Friedenthal Financial bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth $45,000. Neo Ivy Capital Management purchased a new stake in Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth about $58,000. Richardson Capital Management LLC raised its position in Microsoft by 1,290.0% in the first quarter. Richardson Capital Management LLC now owns 139 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $59,000 after acquiring an additional 129 shares during the period. Hibernia Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in Microsoft in the third quarter valued at about $69,000. Finally, Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 89.0% during the 3rd quarter. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC now owns 223 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $70,000 after acquiring an additional 105 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Microsoft Stock Performance

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 company’s 50 day moving average price is $414.44 and its 200-day moving average price is $387.17. The company has a market cap of $3.04 trillion, a PE ratio of 36.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.89.

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.