Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Stock Price Down 0.8% – Here’s What Happened

Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)’s share price dropped 0.8% during trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as low as $415.40 and last traded at $415.94. Approximately 5,129,281 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 75% from the average daily volume of 20,297,465 shares. The stock had previously closed at $419.14.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MSFT has been the topic of several recent research reports. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $485.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Citigroup cut their target price on shares of Microsoft from $520.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Oppenheimer downgraded shares of Microsoft from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $515.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, UBS Group cut their target price on shares of Microsoft from $520.00 to $510.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $493.47.

Microsoft Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $3.10 trillion, a PE ratio of 36.08, a PEG ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a current ratio of 1.27. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $419.14 and a 200 day moving average price of $424.59.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $2.95 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.90 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $64.73 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $64.38 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 35.95% and a net margin of 35.96%. The business’s revenue was up 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.69 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 13.02 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be paid a dividend of $0.83 per share. This is a boost from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.80%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is 28.74%.

Microsoft declared that its board has approved a stock buyback plan on Monday, September 16th that allows the company to buyback $60.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the software giant to repurchase up to 1.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 14,398 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $417.41, for a total transaction of $6,009,869.18. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 786,933 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $328,473,703.53. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Microsoft news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 14,398 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $417.41, for a total value of $6,009,869.18. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 786,933 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $328,473,703.53. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Amy Hood sold 38,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $410.55, for a total value of $15,600,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 496,369 shares in the company, valued at $203,784,292.95. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 190,629 shares of company stock worth $77,916,485. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Microsoft

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MSFT. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 169.2% during the second quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 70 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares during the period. Quarry LP acquired a new position in Microsoft during the second quarter worth about $45,000. Richardson Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Microsoft by 1,290.0% during the first quarter. Richardson Capital Management LLC now owns 139 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $59,000 after acquiring an additional 129 shares during the period. Innealta Capital LLC acquired a new position in Microsoft during the second quarter worth about $75,000. Finally, Bellevue Group AG grew its holdings in Microsoft by 47.5% during the first quarter. Bellevue Group AG now owns 180 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $76,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.