Wedbush Reaffirms Outperform Rating for Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT)‘s stock had its “outperform” rating restated by research analysts at Wedbush in a note issued to investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. They presently have a $550.00 price objective on the software giant’s stock. Wedbush’s target price suggests a potential upside of 41.26% from the company’s current price.

Other analysts have also issued reports about the stock. DA Davidson raised shares of Microsoft from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $425.00 to $450.00 in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Microsoft from $540.00 to $530.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $509.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Guggenheim restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Loop Capital lifted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-eight have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $509.03.

Microsoft Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of MSFT stock traded up $1.53 on Thursday, reaching $389.35. 3,483,844 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 19,205,027. The stock has a market cap of $2.89 trillion, a PE ratio of 31.35, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.92. 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 has a one year low of $376.91 and a one year high of $468.35. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $410.13 and a 200 day moving average price of $420.08.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The software giant reported $3.23 earnings per share (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 quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.93 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Microsoft will post 13.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Microsoft

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of MSFT. Ball & Co Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter valued at $31,000. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Microsoft in the 4th quarter worth about $38,000. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc increased its holdings in 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 in the last quarter. IFS Advisors LLC increased its holdings in 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 in the last quarter. Finally, LSV Asset Management bought a new stake in Microsoft in the 4th quarter worth about $44,000. 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.