Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Trading Down 1% – Should You Sell?

Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)’s stock price fell 1% during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $410.29 and last traded at $411.52. 4,662,374 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 77% from the average session volume of 20,451,941 shares. The stock had previously closed at $415.49.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MSFT has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company restated a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday, October 18th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $495.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of Microsoft from $470.00 to $465.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 31st. KeyCorp boosted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $490.00 to $505.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $500.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $503.03.

Microsoft Stock Down 0.3 %

The company has a 50-day moving average of $422.46 and a 200-day moving average of $426.13. The company has a market capitalization of $3.08 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a current ratio of 1.30, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.10 by $0.20. Microsoft had a return on equity of 34.56% and a net margin of 35.61%. The firm had revenue of $65.59 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $64.57 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.99 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 12.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 21st will be issued a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.80%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. This is a boost from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 24.75%.

Microsoft announced that its board has approved a stock buyback plan on Monday, September 16th that permits the company to buyback $60.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the software giant to reacquire up to 1.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other Microsoft news, CFO Amy Hood sold 38,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $410.55, for a total transaction of $15,600,900.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 496,369 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $203,784,292.95. This trade represents a 7.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Satya Nadella sold 14,398 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $417.41, for a total transaction of $6,009,869.18. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 786,933 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $328,473,703.53. The trade was a 1.80 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 197,829 shares of company stock valued at $80,966,837 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Microsoft

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in Microsoft by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC now owns 11,184 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $4,821,000 after purchasing an additional 255 shares during the period. Aldebaran Financial Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 5.8% in the 3rd quarter. Aldebaran Financial Inc. now owns 7,663 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $3,298,000 after acquiring an additional 423 shares during the period. Morse Asset Management Inc grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 42.4% in the 3rd quarter. Morse Asset Management Inc now owns 67,404 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $29,004,000 after acquiring an additional 20,061 shares during the period. Passumpsic Savings Bank grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 69.0% in the 3rd quarter. Passumpsic Savings Bank now owns 2,832 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,219,000 after acquiring an additional 1,156 shares during the period. Finally, McIlrath & Eck LLC lifted its stake in Microsoft by 18.3% in the 3rd quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 124,788 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $53,696,000 after buying an additional 19,302 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.