Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Short Interest Up 23.7% in February

Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest during the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 66,330,000 shares, a growth of 23.7% from the February 13th total of 53,630,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 22,750,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.9 days. Approximately 0.9% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Microsoft Trading Up 1.1 %

NASDAQ MSFT opened at $387.82 on Thursday. Microsoft has a one year low of $376.91 and a one year high of $468.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a current ratio of 1.35. The company has a market capitalization of $2.88 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.92. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $410.13 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $420.08.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The software giant reported $3.23 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 company posted $2.93 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Microsoft will post 13.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have weighed in on MSFT. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on Microsoft from $515.00 to $475.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 7th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Microsoft from $540.00 to $530.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $525.00 to $510.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $520.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Loop Capital increased their price target on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $510.43.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Microsoft

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of MSFT. Ball & Co Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft in the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft in the 4th quarter worth approximately $38,000. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 35.7% in the 3rd quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 95 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. IFS Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 53.8% in the 4th quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 100 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. Finally, LSV Asset Management purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft in the 4th quarter worth approximately $44,000. 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.