Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Reaches New 52-Week Low – Time to Sell?

Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)’s share price hit a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as low as $381.00 and last traded at $384.79, with a volume of 2698932 shares. The stock had previously closed at $388.49.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have commented on MSFT shares. Mizuho cut their target price on shares of Microsoft from $510.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $500.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on Microsoft from $540.00 to $530.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 30th. StockNews.com downgraded Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Guggenheim restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $510.96.

Microsoft Price Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $2.84 trillion, a PE ratio of 30.76, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.90. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $419.75 and its 200 day moving average price is $422.59. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13.

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 net margin of 35.43% and a return on equity of 33.36%. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.93 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Microsoft news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $447.41, for a total value of $1,118,525.00. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer now owns 49,352 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,080,578.32. This represents a 4.82 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.03% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Microsoft

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in MSFT. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the 4th quarter valued at about $44,343,058,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its position in Microsoft by 48,526.1% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 38,501,645 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $16,567,258,000 after purchasing an additional 38,422,466 shares in the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC grew its holdings in Microsoft by 34,643.3% in the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 16,837,278 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $7,096,913,000 after purchasing an additional 16,788,816 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 16.1% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 83,787,746 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $35,316,535,000 after buying an additional 11,600,470 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 684,071,705 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $288,336,224,000 after buying an additional 10,431,988 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Microsoft

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.