Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Down 0.1% – Here’s Why

Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)’s share price dropped 0.1% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $410.40 and last traded at $412.04. Approximately 5,084,733 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 77% from the average daily volume of 22,318,551 shares. The stock had previously closed at $412.37.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have commented on MSFT. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of Microsoft from $540.00 to $530.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. StockNews.com raised shares of Microsoft from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. DA Davidson reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $425.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Sanford C. Bernstein reduced their price target on Microsoft from $501.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $550.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Microsoft currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $510.96.

Microsoft Stock Performance

The stock’s 50-day moving average is $432.06 and its 200 day moving average is $424.01. The stock has a market cap of $3.07 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.22, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 1.34.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The software giant reported $3.23 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.15 by $0.08. Microsoft had a return on equity of 33.36% and a net margin of 35.43%. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.93 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 13.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be paid a dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.80%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.73%.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In other news, EVP Christopher David Young sold 7,200 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $423.66, for a total transaction of $3,050,352.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 103,366 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $43,792,039.56. The trade was a 6.51 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $414.72, for a total transaction of $414,720.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 57,511 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,850,961.92. The trade was a 1.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 41,200 shares of company stock worth $17,383,892 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Microsoft

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Net Worth Advisory Group acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the 3rd quarter worth about $2,645,000. Oak Ridge Investments LLC lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 7.6% during the third quarter. Oak Ridge Investments LLC now owns 263,534 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $113,399,000 after buying an additional 18,544 shares during the period. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp boosted its position in Microsoft by 1.6% during the second quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 1,975,200 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $882,816,000 after acquiring an additional 31,401 shares during the last quarter. Jacobs & Co. CA grew its stake in Microsoft by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Jacobs & Co. CA now owns 96,021 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $41,318,000 after acquiring an additional 880 shares during the period. Finally, Focus Financial Network Inc. raised its holdings in Microsoft by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. Focus Financial Network Inc. now owns 76,296 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $32,830,000 after acquiring an additional 1,489 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.