Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Down 1.7% – What’s Next?

Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) traded down 1.7% during mid-day trading on Friday . The company traded as low as $415.02 and last traded at $417.20. 6,456,413 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 58% from the average session volume of 15,485,066 shares. The stock had previously closed at $424.56.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their target price on shares of Microsoft from $515.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $506.00 to $548.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. TD Cowen reduced their price target on Microsoft from $495.00 to $475.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $500.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $470.00 to $465.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-eight have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $511.62.

Microsoft Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a current ratio of 1.30. The stock has a market cap of $3.12 trillion, a PE ratio of 34.60, a P/E/G ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.90. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $428.65 and its 200 day moving average is $427.59.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.10 by $0.20. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.61% and a return on equity of 34.56%. The firm had revenue of $65.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $64.57 billion. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.99 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 12.93 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be given a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.79%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is currently 27.39%.

Microsoft announced that its board has initiated a share repurchase plan on Monday, September 16th that authorizes the company to repurchase $60.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the software giant to repurchase up to 1.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Christopher David Young sold 7,200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $423.66, for a total transaction of $3,050,352.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 103,366 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $43,792,039.56. This represents a 6.51 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $414.72, for a total transaction of $414,720.00. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 57,511 shares in the company, valued at $23,850,961.92. This trade represents a 1.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 41,200 shares of company stock valued at $17,383,892 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc grew its stake in Microsoft by 169.2% in the second quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 70 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP bought a new stake in Microsoft in the 2nd quarter valued at $45,000. Avondale Wealth Management grew its position in Microsoft by 144.4% during the fourth quarter. Avondale Wealth Management now owns 110 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $46,000 after buying an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the third quarter valued at approximately $62,000. Finally, Innealta Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Microsoft during the 2nd quarter worth about $75,000. 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.