Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Stock Price Down 0.9%

Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) shares traded down 0.9% during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as low as $413.03 and last traded at $413.05. 2,447,417 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 88% from the average session volume of 20,782,576 shares. The stock had previously closed at $416.79.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Microsoft from $500.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Macquarie boosted their price objective on Microsoft from $460.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 17th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of Microsoft from $520.00 to $506.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Mizuho raised their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $450.00 to $480.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. Finally, Tigress Financial lifted their price target on Microsoft from $475.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, June 13th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $494.72.

Microsoft Trading Down 0.8 %

The stock has a market capitalization of $3.07 trillion, a P/E ratio of 35.80, a P/E/G ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.90. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $435.06 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $422.88. The company has a quick ratio of 1.23, a current ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $2.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.90 by $0.05. Microsoft had a return on equity of 35.95% and a net margin of 35.96%. The company had revenue of $64.73 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $64.38 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.69 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 13.04 earnings per share 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 0.73%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is currently 25.97%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 244 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 47,011 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,534,480.83. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Microsoft

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Financial Security Advisor Inc. grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Financial Security Advisor Inc. now owns 27,270 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $10,255,000 after acquiring an additional 452 shares in the last quarter. Rappaport Reiches Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 14.9% during the 4th quarter. Rappaport Reiches Capital Management LLC now owns 8,213 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $3,089,000 after purchasing an additional 1,067 shares during the period. Bayesian Capital Management LP increased its holdings in Microsoft by 60.1% during the 4th quarter. Bayesian Capital Management LP now owns 48,500 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $18,238,000 after acquiring an additional 18,200 shares in the last quarter. Warren Street Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 16.5% during the fourth quarter. Warren Street Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 6,767 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $2,545,000 after buying an additional 956 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Czech National Bank lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 1,307,487 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $550,086,000 after acquiring an additional 5,253 shares during the period. 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.