Microsoft (O:MSFT) stock is having a great start today as analysts weigh in with regard to cloud confidence. Today, we'll take a look at the story as well as provide a detailed analysis of MSFT. So, let's get right to it.
Raymond James Believes MSFT Will Be A Long Term Winner In The Cloud Race
Earlier today, Raymond James analyst Michael Turits gave his opinion of what we can expect to see from MSFT. He rated the stock a “Strong Buy” and offered a price target of $62 per share. The analyst focused heavily on the Microsoft cloud service known as Azure, which he believes is one on the “hyperscale elite” side of the equation and that it could be the long-term winner in the cloud sector. Here's what Turits had to say about MSFT...
“While only recently Microsoft looked like the legacy PC software vendor that had “missed mobile,” today we see it as one of the few tech companies with the scale and product scope to become a truly hybrid vendor integrating its cloud Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS), Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS), and Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) offerings with a vast installed base of on-premise server and client software...”
Detailed Analysis Of MSFT
The stock is up 0.77% or $0.41 after the positive news, hitting $54.34 per share. About 4.27 million shares traded hands. MSFT has risen 12.28% since April 27, 2015 and is uptrending. It has outperformed by 13.18% the S&P500.
Out of 14 analysts covering Microsoft Corporation, 10 rate it "Buy", 2 "Sell", while 2 "Hold". This means 71% are positive. $65 is the highest target while $20 is the lowest. The $51.79 average target is -4.69% below today's ($54.34) stock price. Microsoft was the topic in 28 analyst reports since July 22, 2015 according to StockzIntelligence Inc. UBS maintained the stock on November 23 with "Buy" rating. Vetr upgraded it to "Strong-Buy" rating and $47.60 target price in a September 2 report. Barclays (L:BARC) Capital maintained the shares of MSFT in a report on October 23 with "Overweight" rating. Global Equities Research maintained the firm's rating on August 28. Global Equities Research has "Overweight" rating and $50 price target. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus maintained the stock with "Buy" rating in an October 23 report.
The institutional sentiment decreased to 0.76 in Q2 2015. Its down 0.23, from 0.99 in 2015Q1. The ratio worsened, as 80 funds sold all Microsoft Corporation shares owned while 965 reduced positions. 103 funds bought stakes while 688 increased positions. They now own 5.67 billion shares or 4.58% less from 5.94 billion shares in 2015Q1.
Deccan Value Investors L.P. holds 28.05% of its portfolio in Microsoft Corporation for 2.26 million shares. Cook & Bynum Capital Management Llc owns 717,081 shares or 22% of their US portfolio. Moreover, Rwwm Inc. has 20.52% invested in the company for 885,842 shares. The California-based Valueact Holdings L.P. has invested 17.5% in the stock. Sarbit Advisory Services Inc., a Manitoba - Canada-based fund reported 2.68 million shares.
Since April 28, 2015, the stock had 0 insider purchases, and 4 selling transactions for $370.34 million net activity. Gates William H Iii sold 4.00M shares worth $185.75 million. Turner Brian Kevin sold 69,158 shares worth $3.16 million. Capossela Christopher C sold 4,485 shares worth $218,464. Brod Frank H sold 4,500 shares worth $215,294.
Microsoft Corporation is engaged in developing, licensing and supporting a range of software services and products. The company has a market cap of $434.10 billion. The Firm also creates and sells hardware, and delivers online advertising to the customers. It has 36.51 P/E ratio. The Firm operates in five divisions: Devices and Consumer Licensing, D&C Hardware, D&C Other, Commercial Licensing, and Commercial Other.