Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Price Target Cut to $480.00 by Analysts at Bank of America

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) had its target price reduced by Bank of America from $510.00 to $480.00 in a report issued on Tuesday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have a buy rating on the software giant’s stock.

Other equities analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $515.00 to $475.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 7th. Tigress Financial boosted their price target on Microsoft from $550.00 to $595.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $475.00 price objective (down previously from $500.00) on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Mizuho reduced their target price on shares of Microsoft from $510.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $509.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $502.83.

Microsoft Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of NASDAQ MSFT opened at $385.73 on Tuesday. Microsoft has a twelve month low of $344.79 and a twelve month high of $468.35. The firm has a market cap of $2.87 trillion, a PE ratio of 31.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.00. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $390.78 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $413.81. The company has a quick ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The software giant reported $3.23 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.15 by $0.08. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.43% and a return on equity of 33.36%. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.93 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Microsoft will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be given a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.86%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is presently 26.73%.

Institutional Trading of Microsoft

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in MSFT. Adamsbrown Wealth Consultants LLC boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Adamsbrown Wealth Consultants LLC now owns 5,967 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $2,515,000 after buying an additional 130 shares during the last quarter. Oak Ridge Investments LLC boosted its position in Microsoft by 7.6% in the 3rd quarter. Oak Ridge Investments LLC now owns 263,534 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $113,399,000 after purchasing an additional 18,544 shares in the last quarter. Focus Financial Network Inc. grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. Focus Financial Network Inc. now owns 76,296 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $32,830,000 after purchasing an additional 1,489 shares during the period. Campbell Wealth Management purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $3,314,000. Finally, Romano Brothers AND Company lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. Romano Brothers AND Company now owns 42,176 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $18,148,000 after purchasing an additional 962 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Company Profile

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.