Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Down 0.1% – Here’s What Happened

Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)’s share price dropped 0.1% during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $407.65 and last traded at $409.27. Approximately 3,541,648 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 84% from the average daily volume of 21,670,289 shares. The stock had previously closed at $409.64.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MSFT has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $520.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Monday, January 27th. StockNews.com upgraded Microsoft from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Loop Capital lifted their price objective on Microsoft from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. UBS Group decreased their target price on Microsoft from $525.00 to $510.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Microsoft from $540.00 to $530.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $510.96.

Microsoft Stock Up 0.6 %

The firm has a market capitalization of $3.06 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.20, a P/E/G ratio of 2.17 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $427.33 and a 200 day moving average price of $422.79.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The software giant reported $3.23 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 company posted $2.93 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 13.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be issued a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.81%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. Microsoft’s payout ratio is currently 26.73%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $423.48, for a total value of $423,480.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer now owns 56,511 shares in the company, valued at $23,931,278.28. The trade was a 1.74 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $417.00, for a total transaction of $10,425,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 117,294 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $48,911,598. This trade represents a 17.57 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 34,000 shares of company stock worth $14,333,540 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. WFA Asset Management Corp raised its position in shares of 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 during the last quarter. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.3% during the 2nd quarter. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. now owns 12,658 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $5,658,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Nicholas Investment Partners LP raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 3.0% during the 2nd quarter. Nicholas Investment Partners LP now owns 39,743 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $17,763,000 after acquiring an additional 1,164 shares during the last quarter. Advisor OS LLC raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 7.2% during the 2nd quarter. Advisor OS LLC now owns 37,802 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $16,896,000 after acquiring an additional 2,549 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sivia Capital Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 2.0% in the 2nd quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 19,577 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $8,750,000 after buying an additional 383 shares in the last quarter. 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.