Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Hits New 12-Month Low – Should You Sell?

Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)’s stock price reached a new 52-week low on Tuesday . The stock traded as low as $377.22 and last traded at $380.16, with a volume of 32715744 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $393.31.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MSFT has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $509.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of Microsoft from $525.00 to $510.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. DA Davidson restated a “neutral” rating and set a $425.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Mizuho decreased their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $510.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $515.00 to $475.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Microsoft currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $509.54.

Microsoft Price Performance

The firm has a market cap of $2.85 trillion, a PE ratio of 30.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.92. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $413.92 and its 200-day moving average price is $421.06. 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 released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The software giant reported $3.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 quarter last year, the business earned $2.93 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 15th will be issued a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.87%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is currently 26.73%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Microsoft

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Northstar Financial Companies Inc. purchased a new position in Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth about $4,050,000. Centaurus Financial Inc. boosted its stake in Microsoft by 10.5% during the fourth quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. now owns 78,825 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $33,225,000 after buying an additional 7,514 shares during the period. Wealthedge Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth about $3,433,000. Campbell Deegan Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth about $2,001,000. Finally, Lighthouse Financial LLC purchased a new position in Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth about $2,666,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.