Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Stock Rating Upgraded by Wall Street Zen

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) was upgraded by stock analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report issued on Saturday.

Several other brokerages have also recently issued reports on MSFT. Raymond James Financial lowered their target price on shares of Microsoft from $630.00 to $600.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on shares of Microsoft from $650.00 to $625.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. BNP Paribas Exane increased their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $630.00 to $632.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, November 3rd. Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Friday, October 24th. Finally, Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-seven have issued a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $632.34.

Microsoft Trading Up 0.5%

MSFT stock opened at $483.16 on Friday. 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 $507.29 and its 200 day moving average is $501.59. The company has a current ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. The stock has a market cap of $3.59 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.36, a PEG ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.07.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The software giant reported $4.13 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.65 by $0.48. The business had revenue of $77.67 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $75.49 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 32.45% and a net margin of 35.71%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 18.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $3.30 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Microsoft will post 13.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In related news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 2,850 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $478.72, for a total transaction of $1,364,352.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 55,782 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $26,703,959.04. This represents a 4.86% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Judson Althoff sold 12,750 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $491.52, for a total value of $6,266,880.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 129,349 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $63,577,620.48. This trade represents a 8.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 54,100 shares of company stock valued at $27,598,872 over the last quarter. 0.03% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Microsoft

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 51.3% during the second quarter. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC now owns 59 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Bulwark Capital Corp purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft during the second quarter worth approximately $32,000. Westend Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 386.7% in the second quarter. Westend Capital Management LLC now owns 73 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. Bayforest Capital Ltd acquired a new stake in Microsoft during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $38,000. Finally, LSV Asset Management purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $44,000. 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.