Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Down 4.2%

Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) was down 4.2% during trading on Thursday . The company traded as low as $388.03 and last traded at $392.05. Approximately 13,525,317 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 38% from the average daily volume of 21,666,740 shares. The stock had previously closed at $409.06.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MSFT has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Macquarie raised their target price on shares of Microsoft from $430.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Citigroup lowered their price objective on Microsoft from $480.00 to $475.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. BNP Paribas upgraded Microsoft from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $471.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 18th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $460.00 to $480.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 22nd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $434.05.

Microsoft Price Performance

The firm has a market cap of $2.97 trillion, a P/E ratio of 35.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.89. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $414.59 and its 200-day moving average is $387.09. The company has a quick ratio of 1.20, a current ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 30th. The software giant reported $2.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.76 by $0.17. Microsoft had a net margin of 36.27% and a return on equity of 38.40%. The company had revenue of $62.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $61.14 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.32 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 17.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 11.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 16th will be given a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.75%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 15th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 27.12%.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,955 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $403.96, for a total value of $8,868,941.80. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 159,764 shares in the company, valued at $64,538,265.44. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other Microsoft news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,955 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $403.96, for a total value of $8,868,941.80. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 159,764 shares in the company, valued at $64,538,265.44. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 45,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $411.78, for a total value of $18,530,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 574,129 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $236,414,839.62. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 1,070,258 shares of company stock valued at $30,690,456. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Microsoft

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Friedenthal Financial bought a new position in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at $45,000. Neo Ivy Capital Management bought a new position in shares of Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth approximately $58,000. Richardson Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Microsoft by 1,290.0% in the 1st quarter. Richardson Capital Management LLC now owns 139 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $59,000 after acquiring an additional 129 shares during the period. Hibernia Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in Microsoft during the third quarter worth $69,000. Finally, Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 89.0% during the 3rd quarter. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC now owns 223 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $70,000 after buying an additional 105 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors 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.