Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Stock Price Down 0.2% – Here’s Why

Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) dropped 0.2% on Friday . The stock traded as low as $417.80 and last traded at $422.10. Approximately 6,418,603 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 69% from the average daily volume of 20,512,168 shares. The stock had previously closed at $422.99.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MSFT has been the topic of several analyst reports. DA Davidson downgraded Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $475.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Monday, September 23rd. Oppenheimer lowered shares of Microsoft from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of Microsoft from $470.00 to $465.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Sanford C. Bernstein dropped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $501.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Finally, TD Cowen decreased their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $495.00 to $475.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $503.03.

Microsoft Stock Up 0.1 %

The firm has a market cap of $3.15 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.83, a P/E/G ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.30 and a quick ratio of 1.29. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $421.07 and its two-hundred day moving average is $426.39.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.10 by $0.20. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.61% and a return on equity of 34.56%. The business had revenue of $65.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $64.57 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.99 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 12.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be paid a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.78%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. This is an increase from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. Microsoft’s payout ratio is currently 27.39%.

Microsoft declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback plan on Monday, September 16th that permits the company to buyback $60.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the software giant to reacquire up to 1.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Christopher David Young sold 7,200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $423.66, for a total transaction of $3,050,352.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 103,366 shares in the company, valued at approximately $43,792,039.56. This trade represents a 6.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $414.72, for a total value of $414,720.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 57,511 shares in the company, valued at $23,850,961.92. This represents a 1.71 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 209,431 shares of company stock valued at $85,796,688 over the last three months. 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 modified their holdings of MSFT. WFA Asset Management Corp grew its stake in Microsoft by 27.0% during the 1st quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 1,016 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $427,000 after acquiring an additional 216 shares in the last quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its position in Microsoft by 62.0% during the first quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 113,168 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $47,612,000 after purchasing an additional 43,327 shares in the last quarter. Quent Capital LLC increased its stake in Microsoft by 4.3% in the 1st quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 35,888 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $15,099,000 after buying an additional 1,467 shares during the period. Paulson Wealth Management Inc. lifted its position in Microsoft by 0.6% in the 1st quarter. Paulson Wealth Management Inc. now owns 6,469 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $2,722,000 after buying an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ogorek Anthony Joseph NY ADV boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 42.0% during the 1st quarter. Ogorek Anthony Joseph NY ADV now owns 4,852 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $2,041,000 after buying an additional 1,434 shares during the period. 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.