Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Trading Down 0.1% – What’s Next?

Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)’s stock price dropped 0.1% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $379.41 and last traded at $379.91. Approximately 5,853,648 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 75% from the average daily volume of 23,064,125 shares. The stock had previously closed at $380.45.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MSFT has been the subject of several analyst reports. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $509.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. DA Davidson raised Microsoft from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $425.00 to $450.00 in a research report on Thursday. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $500.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $520.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $510.43.

Microsoft Price Performance

The business has a 50 day moving average price of $413.12 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $420.77. The stock has a market cap of $2.85 trillion, a PE ratio of 30.84, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a current ratio of 1.35.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The software giant reported $3.23 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.15 by $0.08. Microsoft had a return on equity of 33.36% and a net margin of 35.43%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.93 EPS. Research analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

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 paid a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.87%. Microsoft’s payout ratio is 26.73%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Microsoft

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Net Worth Advisory Group bought a new stake in Microsoft during the 3rd quarter valued at $2,645,000. Oak Ridge Investments LLC raised its holdings in Microsoft by 7.6% during the 3rd quarter. Oak Ridge Investments LLC now owns 263,534 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $113,399,000 after acquiring an additional 18,544 shares during the period. Jacobs & Co. CA raised its holdings in Microsoft by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Jacobs & Co. CA now owns 96,021 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $41,318,000 after acquiring an additional 880 shares during the period. Focus Financial Network Inc. raised its holdings in Microsoft by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. Focus Financial Network Inc. now owns 76,296 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $32,830,000 after acquiring an additional 1,489 shares during the period. Finally, Campbell Wealth Management bought a new stake in Microsoft during the 3rd quarter valued at $3,314,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.