Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Trading Down 4.2%

Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)’s stock price was down 4.2% during trading on Thursday . The company traded as low as $388.03 and last traded at $392.05. Approximately 13,525,317 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 38% from the average daily volume of 21,666,740 shares. The stock had previously closed at $409.06.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Truist Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $600.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Monday, March 25th. Barclays upped their target price on Microsoft from $421.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $455.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, January 25th. Raymond James boosted their target price on Microsoft from $400.00 to $450.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $465.00 to $520.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $434.05.

Microsoft Stock Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $2.97 trillion, a PE ratio of 35.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.89. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $414.59 and its 200-day moving average price is $387.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a quick ratio of 1.20 and a current ratio of 1.22.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 30th. The software giant reported $2.93 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.76 by $0.17. Microsoft had a net margin of 36.27% and a return on equity of 38.40%. The firm had revenue of $62.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $61.14 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.32 EPS. Microsoft’s quarterly revenue was up 17.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 11.61 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 16th will be paid a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.75%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 15th. Microsoft’s payout ratio is currently 27.12%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In related news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,955 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $403.96, for a total transaction of $8,868,941.80. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 159,764 shares in the company, valued at $64,538,265.44. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,955 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $403.96, for a total transaction of $8,868,941.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 159,764 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $64,538,265.44. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Corp Microsoft sold 1,000,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $1.95, for a total value of $1,950,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 11,677,398 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,770,926.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 1,070,258 shares of company stock valued at $30,690,456 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Adell Harriman & Carpenter Inc. increased its stake in Microsoft by 1.0% in the 1st quarter. Adell Harriman & Carpenter Inc. now owns 150,093 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $63,147,000 after buying an additional 1,558 shares during the period. Ulland Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 44.3% during the first quarter. Ulland Investment Advisors LLC now owns 6,113 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $2,572,000 after acquiring an additional 1,877 shares during the period. Strategy Asset Managers LLC raised its holdings in Microsoft by 2.0% during the first quarter. Strategy Asset Managers LLC now owns 54,084 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $22,754,000 after purchasing an additional 1,044 shares in the last quarter. Borer Denton & Associates Inc. lifted its position in Microsoft by 1.2% in the first quarter. Borer Denton & Associates Inc. now owns 66,627 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $28,031,000 after purchasing an additional 772 shares during the period. Finally, TNF LLC raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 1.5% during the 1st quarter. TNF LLC now owns 2,112 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $864,000 after buying an additional 32 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

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.