Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Hits New 12-Month Low – Here’s What Happened

Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) hit a new 52-week low during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $353.68 and last traded at $356.1720, with a volume of 17283339 shares. The stock had previously closed at $365.46.

Key Microsoft News

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft shares bounced as the broader memory and semiconductor market stabilized, helping relieve some of the pressure tied to AI infrastructure and component-cost fears.
• Positive Sentiment: Wedbush and other bullish commentators said the recent tech selloff may be a buying opportunity, arguing Microsoft remains a core AI leader despite near-term volatility. Dan Ives Says Microsoft And Meta Are Being Treated Like ‘Bear Market’ Stocks
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft was mentioned in new partnerships and product integrations, including Commvault, PitchBook, FPT, and ICON plc, reinforcing demand for Microsoft’s cloud and AI ecosystem. Microsoft Just Made Commvault a Native Azure Service. Here Is How to Play CVLT Stock.
• Neutral Sentiment: Microsoft also drew attention from investors after Michael Burry disclosed a long position, which some traders viewed as a contrarian buy signal.
• Neutral Sentiment: Multiple articles noted analysts still like the stock long term, but Wall Street remains focused on whether AI spending is destroying near-term margins and free cash flow. Wall Street Analysts Think Microsoft (MSFT) Is a Good Investment: Is It?
• Negative Sentiment: Stifel cut its Microsoft price target and warned that FY27 gross margin estimates may be too high because Azure growth is coming with heavier capex and margin pressure. Microsoft’s Stock Is Crippled
• Negative Sentiment: Microsoft announced another worldwide Xbox price increase, citing soaring memory and storage costs, which adds to concerns that hardware inflation is squeezing the gaming business.
• Negative Sentiment: New legal and regulatory pressure also weighed on the stock, including an Italy antitrust probe into Microsoft 365 pricing and new shareholder class-action notices over alleged investor misinformation.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Truist Financial reduced their price target on shares of Microsoft from $675.00 to $575.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Phillip Securities raised shares of Microsoft to a “buy” rating and set a $485.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 13th. Guggenheim restated a “buy” rating and issued a $586.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Finally, Citigroup assumed coverage on shares of Microsoft in a report on Monday, June 1st. They set a “market outperform” rating for the company. Forty-one equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $560.86.

Microsoft Price Performance

The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $410.37 and its 200 day simple moving average is $421.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 1.28 and a quick ratio of 1.27. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.77 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.20, a PEG ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.11.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The software giant reported $4.27 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.06 by $0.21. Microsoft had a net margin of 39.34% and a return on equity of 31.94%. The firm had revenue of $82.89 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $81.44 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $3.46 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 18.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Microsoft Corporation will post 16.76 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 20th will be paid a $0.91 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 20th. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.0%. Microsoft’s payout ratio is presently 21.67%.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In other news, EVP Amy Coleman sold 1,262 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $411.34, for a total transaction of $519,111.08. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 46,003 shares in the company, valued at $18,922,874.02. This represents a 2.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $402.84, for a total transaction of $1,812,780.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 47,468 shares in the company, valued at $19,122,009.12. This represents a 8.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last three months, insiders have sold 23,762 shares of company stock worth $10,508,361. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC boosted its position in Microsoft by 51.3% during the 2nd quarter. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC now owns 59 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the period. Bernzott Capital Advisors bought a new position in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter valued at about $34,000. Timmons Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth about $36,000. Fairway Wealth LLC grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 287.0% in the fourth quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC now owns 89 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares during the last quarter. Finally, University of Illinois Foundation bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the second quarter worth about $50,000. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Microsoft

Microsoft Corporation is a global technology company headquartered in Redmond, Washington. Founded in 1975 by Bill Gates and Paul Allen, Microsoft develops, licenses and supports a broad range of software products, services and devices for consumers, enterprises and governments worldwide. Its operations span personal computing, productivity software, cloud infrastructure, enterprise applications, developer tools and gaming.

Microsoft’s product portfolio includes the Windows operating system and the Microsoft 365 suite of productivity and collaboration tools (Office apps, Outlook, Teams).