Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Down 2.8% – Should You Sell?

Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) fell 2.8% on Thursday . The company traded as low as $369.35 and last traded at $371.50. 9,742,797 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 53% from the average session volume of 20,548,870 shares. The stock had previously closed at $382.14.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MSFT has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Westpark Capital started coverage on Microsoft in a research report on Tuesday. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. Loop Capital increased their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on shares of Microsoft from $515.00 to $475.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 7th. DA Davidson raised shares of Microsoft from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $425.00 to $450.00 in a report on Thursday, March 13th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $540.00 to $530.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $508.86.

Microsoft Stock Performance

The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $402.24 and its 200-day moving average price is $418.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 1.34. The stock has a market cap of $2.77 trillion, a P/E ratio of 30.04, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.92.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The software giant reported $3.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 last year, the firm earned $2.93 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 15th will be given a dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.89%. Microsoft’s payout ratio is 26.73%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of MSFT. Net Worth Advisory Group purchased a new stake in Microsoft during the 3rd quarter worth about $2,645,000. Adamsbrown Wealth Consultants LLC lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. Adamsbrown Wealth Consultants LLC now owns 5,967 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $2,515,000 after purchasing an additional 130 shares during the last quarter. Oak Ridge Investments LLC increased its holdings in Microsoft by 7.6% in the third quarter. Oak Ridge Investments LLC now owns 263,534 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $113,399,000 after buying an additional 18,544 shares during the last quarter. Focus Financial Network Inc. lifted 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 worth $32,830,000 after buying an additional 1,489 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Campbell Wealth Management acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft during the 3rd quarter worth about $3,314,000. 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.