JPMorgan Chase & Co. Increases Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Price Target to $470.00

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) had its target price lifted by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $440.00 to $470.00 in a report issued on Friday morning, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an overweight rating on the software giant’s stock.

A number of other brokerages also recently issued reports on MSFT. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Microsoft from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report on Thursday, February 22nd. Raymond James lifted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $400.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Citigroup decreased their price objective on Microsoft from $480.00 to $475.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Truist Financial restated a buy rating and set a $600.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Monday, March 25th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Microsoft from $465.00 to $520.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-two have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Microsoft has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $452.61.

Microsoft Stock Down 1.0 %

Microsoft stock opened at $402.25 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.23, a current ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17. The firm has a market cap of $2.99 trillion, a P/E ratio of 34.83, a P/E/G ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 0.89. The business has a fifty day moving average of $414.45 and a two-hundred day moving average of $389.01. Microsoft has a twelve month low of $303.40 and a twelve month high of $430.82.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The software giant reported $2.94 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.81 by $0.13. Microsoft had a return on equity of 37.54% and a net margin of 36.43%. The firm had revenue of $61.86 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $60.86 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.45 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 17.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Microsoft will post 11.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 16th will be issued a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 15th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.75%. Microsoft’s payout ratio is 25.97%.

Insider Activity

In related news, major shareholder Corp Microsoft sold 1,000,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $1.95, for a total value of $1,950,000.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 11,677,398 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,770,926.10. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, major shareholder Corp Microsoft sold 1,000,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $1.95, for a total value of $1,950,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 11,677,398 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,770,926.10. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,955 shares of the business’s 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 159,764 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $64,538,265.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 1,070,258 shares of company stock worth $30,690,456 over the last three months. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Johnson Bixby & Associates LLC grew its stake in Microsoft by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. Johnson Bixby & Associates LLC now owns 6,481 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $2,727,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Morris Financial Concepts Inc. grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Morris Financial Concepts Inc. now owns 2,663 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $1,001,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Innova Wealth Partners increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Innova Wealth Partners now owns 4,239 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $1,594,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Arkansas Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in Microsoft by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Arkansas Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,719 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $646,000 after buying an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Partnership Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Microsoft by 0.4% during the first quarter. Partnership Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,202 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $2,609,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. 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.