Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Stock Price Down 0.7%

Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)’s stock price traded down 0.7% on Friday . The stock traded as low as $432.00 and last traded at $437.50. 8,786,128 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 57% from the average session volume of 20,469,211 shares. The stock had previously closed at $440.37.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently commented on MSFT. Stifel Nicolaus reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $455.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a report on Monday, April 22nd. UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $480.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Argus upped their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $526.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $480.00 to $500.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $450.00 to $515.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Microsoft presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $477.72.

Microsoft Stock Down 0.4 %

The company has a market cap of $3.26 trillion, a PE ratio of 37.88, a P/E/G ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a current ratio of 1.24 and a quick ratio of 1.23. The business’s 50 day moving average is $438.77 and its 200-day moving average is $417.77.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The software giant reported $2.94 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.81 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $61.86 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $60.86 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 36.43% and a return on equity of 37.54%. The company’s revenue was up 17.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.45 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 11.77 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 15th will be issued a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 15th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.68%. Microsoft’s payout ratio is 25.97%.

Insider Activity

In other Microsoft news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 244 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $415.53, for a total value of $101,389.32. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 47,011 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,534,480.83. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other news, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $425.68, for a total transaction of $10,642,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 104,949 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $44,674,690.32. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 244 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $415.53, for a total transaction of $101,389.32. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 47,011 shares in the company, valued at $19,534,480.83. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 25,566 shares of company stock valued at $10,877,535 in the last ninety days. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Microsoft

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in MSFT. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 4.7% during the 3rd quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 291,447 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $92,024,000 after acquiring an additional 13,085 shares during the period. Agate Pass Investment Management LLC increased its position in Microsoft by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Agate Pass Investment Management LLC now owns 22,831 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $8,585,000 after purchasing an additional 333 shares in the last quarter. Capital Market Strategies LLC increased its position in Microsoft by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Capital Market Strategies LLC now owns 15,152 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $5,698,000 after purchasing an additional 139 shares in the last quarter. Channel Wealth LLC increased its position in Microsoft by 10.0% during the 4th quarter. Channel Wealth LLC now owns 18,808 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $7,072,000 after purchasing an additional 1,704 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Campbell Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth approximately $20,529,000. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.