Microsoft Corp (MSFT)

[DiscoverGold]

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Upgraded by BidaskClub to Hold
By: MarketBeat | December 22, 2020

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) was upgraded by equities researchers at BidaskClub from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report issued on Tuesday, BidAskClub reports.

MSFT has been the topic of several other research reports. Mizuho raised their price target on shares of Microsoft from $240.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 15th. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $218.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 28th. KeyCorp assumed coverage on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Monday, November 23rd. They set an "overweight" rating and a $250.00 target price on the stock. Smith Barney Citigroup raised shares of Microsoft from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, UBS Group set a $243.00 target price on shares of Microsoft and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, December 17th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-two have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Microsoft currently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $236.71.

Shares of NASDAQ MSFT opened at $222.59 on Tuesday. Microsoft has a fifty-two week low of $132.52 and a fifty-two week high of $232.86. The stock has a market cap of $1.68 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.96, a PEG ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 0.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a quick ratio of 2.49 and a current ratio of 2.53. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $214.70 and its 200 day simple moving average is $209.18.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 27th. The software giant reported $1.82 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the Thomson Reuters' consensus estimate of $1.53 by $0.29. Microsoft had a net margin of 32.28% and a return on equity of 40.74%. The business had revenue of $37.15 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $35.67 billion. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Microsoft will post 6.73 EPS for the current year.

In other news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 30,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $212.43, for a total transaction of $6,372,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 189,064 shares in the company, valued at approximately $40,162,865.52. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Satya Nadella sold 104,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $222.52, for a total transaction of $23,253,340.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,392,573 shares of the company's stock, valued at $309,875,343.96. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 334,500 shares of company stock valued at $74,142,240 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.05% of the company's stock.

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its position in Microsoft by 2.0% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 85,075,509 shares of the software giant's stock worth $17,313,715,000 after acquiring an additional 1,667,999 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley grew its position in Microsoft by 2.1% in the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 60,234,432 shares of the software giant's stock worth $12,669,109,000 after acquiring an additional 1,231,345 shares in the last quarter. UBS Asset Management Americas Inc. grew its position in Microsoft by 33.0% in the third quarter. UBS Asset Management Americas Inc. now owns 53,535,518 shares of the software giant's stock worth $11,260,125,000 after acquiring an additional 13,273,020 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its stake in Microsoft by 6.3% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 40,937,785 shares of the software giant's stock worth $8,610,443,000 after purchasing an additional 2,427,846 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Microsoft by 0.5% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 38,706,713 shares of the software giant's stock worth $8,141,183,000 after purchasing an additional 195,481 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 63.89% of the company's stock.

Read Full Story »»»

DiscoverGold