Morgan Stanley Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Stock Price

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) had its price target trimmed by Morgan Stanley from $530.00 to $472.00 in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The firm currently has an overweight rating on the software giant’s stock.

A number of other equities analysts have also weighed in on the stock. UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $510.00 to $480.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Microsoft from $515.00 to $500.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $509.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $500.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $475.00 price target (down from $500.00) on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $499.97.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $371.61 on Wednesday. Microsoft has a 12 month low of $344.79 and a 12 month high of $468.35. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.76 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.00. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $390.02 and its 200-day simple moving average is $413.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 1.34.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The software giant reported $3.23 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 in the previous year, the business posted $2.93 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Microsoft will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be given a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.89%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. Microsoft’s payout ratio is 26.73%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Ball & Co Wealth Management Inc. bought a new stake in Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $38,000. IFS Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 53.8% during the fourth quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 100 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. LSV Asset Management acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth approximately $44,000. Finally, Avondale Wealth Management grew its holdings in Microsoft by 144.4% in the 4th quarter. Avondale Wealth Management now owns 110 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $46,000 after buying an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.