Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Down 0.9% Following Analyst Downgrade

Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) dropped 0.9% during mid-day trading on Thursday after Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on the stock from $548.00 to $540.00. Morgan Stanley currently has an overweight rating on the stock. Microsoft traded as low as $441.50 and last traded at $442.34. Approximately 3,399,299 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 82% from the average daily volume of 18,565,920 shares. The stock had previously closed at $446.20.

Other equities analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. Loop Capital increased their price target on Microsoft from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Citigroup dropped their price target on Microsoft from $500.00 to $497.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Oppenheimer lowered shares of Microsoft from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Microsoft from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-seven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $512.66.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In related news, EVP Christopher David Young sold 7,200 shares of Microsoft 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 103,366 shares in the company, valued at $43,792,039.56. This trade represents a 6.51 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, December 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $447.41, for a total value of $1,118,525.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer now owns 49,352 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,080,578.32. The trade was a 4.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 41,200 shares of company stock valued at $17,383,892. 0.03% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Microsoft

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 169.2% during the second quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 70 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. IFS Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 53.8% during the 4th quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 100 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the second quarter valued at about $45,000. Avondale Wealth Management boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 144.4% during the fourth quarter. Avondale Wealth Management now owns 110 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Microsoft during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $62,000. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Microsoft Trading Down 0.7 %

The company has a current ratio of 1.30, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.29 trillion, a PE ratio of 36.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.90. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $430.07 and a 200-day moving average price of $425.55.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its earnings results 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 return on equity of 34.56% and a net margin of 35.61%. The firm had revenue of $65.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $64.57 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.99 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 12.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 20th will be paid a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.75%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. Microsoft’s payout ratio is currently 27.39%.

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.