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

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) had its price target lowered by Bank of America from $510.00 to $480.00 in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a buy rating on the software giant’s stock.

MSFT has been the subject of several other research reports. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $520.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a report on Monday, January 27th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $500.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $475.00 price target (down previously from $500.00) on shares of Microsoft in a report on Monday, April 7th. DA Davidson upgraded shares of Microsoft from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $425.00 to $450.00 in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. Finally, Mizuho dropped 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. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Microsoft has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $502.83.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $385.73 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The stock has a market capitalization 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 firm’s 50 day moving average price is $390.78 and its 200-day moving average price is $413.81. Microsoft has a twelve month low of $344.79 and a twelve month high of $468.35.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The software giant reported $3.23 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 in the prior year, the firm earned $2.93 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Microsoft will post 13.08 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced 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. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.86%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 26.73%.

Institutional Trading of Microsoft

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. BCK Partners Inc. raised its position in Microsoft by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. BCK Partners Inc. now owns 1,353 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $582,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares during the period. Muirfield Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Muirfield Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,427 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,866,000 after buying an additional 24 shares during the period. Retirement Financial Solutions LLC lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Retirement Financial Solutions LLC now owns 1,050 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $443,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. Sequent Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Sequent Asset Management LLC now owns 1,983 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $853,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares during the period. Finally, Cypress Point Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Microsoft by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Cypress Point Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,208 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $1,380,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.