Wedbush Maintains Outperform Rating for Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT)

On Thursday, analysts from Wedbush reaffirmed their "outperform" rating for Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) in a report shared with investors. The firm has set a price target of $550.00 for the tech giant's shares, which suggests a potential upside of about 41.26% compared to its last closing price.

Other Analysts Weigh In

Microsoft has also drawn attention from various other research firms recently. For instance, Morgan Stanley reduced its price target from $540.00 to $530.00, maintaining an "overweight" rating. Piper Sandler has reiterated an "overweight" rating with a target price of $520.00. Royal Bank of Canada also emphasized an "outperform" rating, with a price target of $500.00. Additionally, Cantor Fitzgerald maintained an "overweight" rating with a target of $509.00. Mizuho, on the other hand, lowered its price target from $510.00 to $500.00 while still holding an "outperform" rating. Currently, three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, while twenty-eight analysts have given it a buy rating. According to MarketBeat.com, Microsoft holds an average rating of "Moderate Buy" with a consensus target price of approximately $509.03.

Market Performance

On the same day, shares of Microsoft saw a slight increase of 0.4%, climbing $1.53 and reaching a price of $389.35. A total of 3,483,844 shares were traded, which is lower than the average trading volume of 19,205,027 shares. Microsoft’s stock has seen a low of $376.91 and a high of $468.35 over the past fifty-two weeks. The company's 50-day moving average is $410.13, while the 200-day moving average stands at $420.08. In terms of financial ratios, Microsoft has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 1.34, and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The market capitalization of Microsoft is approximately $2.89 trillion, with a PE ratio of 31.35 and a P/E/G ratio of 2.21.

Recent Earnings

Microsoft recently released its earnings results on January 29. The company reported $3.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, which exceeded analysts' expectations of $3.15 by $0.08. The firm recorded a net margin of 35.43% and a return on equity of 33.36%. In the same quarter of the previous year, Microsoft posted earnings of $2.93 per share. Analysts project that Microsoft will achieve an EPS of 13.08 for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Shareholder Activity

Several institutional investors have made significant changes to their positions in Microsoft stock recently. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Microsoft valued at approximately $44.34 billion during the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC saw its holdings surge by an incredible 48,526.1% in the third quarter, now owning over 38 million shares worth around $16.57 billion. Proficio Capital Partners LLC reported an increase in its holdings by 34,643.3% during the fourth quarter and now holds approximately 16.8 million shares valued at about $7.10 billion. Northern Trust Corp expanded its stake in Microsoft by 16.1% in the fourth quarter, holding now around 83.79 million shares worth approximately $35.32 billion. Vanguard Group Inc. also grew its holdings during this period by 1.5%, owning now about 684 million shares worth $288.34 billion. Overall, institutional investors own 71.13% of Microsoft shares.

About Microsoft

Microsoft Corporation is a global leader in developing and supporting software, services, devices, and solutions. Their offerings include various productivity and business process solutions such as Office, Microsoft Teams, and Microsoft 365.

Microsoft, Wedbush, Stock