Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Down 2.3%

Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) shares traded down 2.3% during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $434.75 and last traded at $434.81. 3,783,204 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 81% from the average session volume of 20,351,803 shares. The stock had previously closed at $444.85.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MSFT has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on Microsoft from $450.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $485.00 target price (up from $465.00) on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Tuesday. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $450.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, June 7th. New Street Research began coverage on shares of Microsoft in a report on Monday, June 10th. They set a “buy” rating and a $570.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, TD Cowen lifted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $470.00 to $495.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $485.53.

Microsoft Stock Performance

The business has a 50-day moving average of $440.43 and a 200 day moving average of $419.98. The company has a market cap of $3.11 trillion, a PE ratio of 36.23, a PEG ratio of 2.03 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.

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

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 12th. Investors 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 yield of 0.72%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is currently 25.97%.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $35,920,047,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the 4th quarter worth $9,625,201,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 664,908,939 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $250,032,357,000 after buying an additional 15,701,937 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft during the first quarter valued at $5,587,119,000. Finally, TCI Fund Management Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at about $4,000,376,000. 71.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.