Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Down 0.4% – Should You Sell?

Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)’s stock price fell 0.4% during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as low as $420.38 and last traded at $420.82. 3,983,006 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 80% from the average session volume of 20,346,291 shares. The stock had previously closed at $422.54.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently commented on MSFT. UBS Group lowered their price target on shares of Microsoft from $510.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Wedbush reaffirmed an “underperform” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Friday, October 18th. TD Cowen cut their price target on Microsoft from $495.00 to $475.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on Microsoft from $470.00 to $465.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, KeyCorp upped their price objective on Microsoft from $490.00 to $505.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and twenty-six have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $503.03.

Microsoft Stock Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $421.38 and a 200 day simple moving average of $425.44. The company has a market capitalization of $3.16 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.78, a P/E/G ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 0.91.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.10 by $0.20. The business had revenue of $65.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $64.57 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 34.56% and a net margin of 35.61%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.99 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 12.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be given a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.78%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. This is a positive change from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. Microsoft’s payout ratio is 24.75%.

Microsoft declared that its board has initiated a stock 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 usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 14,398 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on Friday, August 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $417.41, for a total transaction of $6,009,869.18. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 786,933 shares in the company, valued at approximately $328,473,703.53. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 40,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on Monday, September 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $402.59, for a total value of $16,103,600.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 544,847 shares in the company, valued at $219,349,953.73. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Satya Nadella sold 14,398 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 786,933 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $328,473,703.53. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 169.2% in the second quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 70 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 44 shares during the period. Quarry LP acquired a new stake in Microsoft during the 2nd quarter worth about $45,000. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in Microsoft during the 3rd quarter valued at about $62,000. Innealta Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft in the 2nd quarter valued at about $75,000. Finally, Bellevue Group AG lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 47.5% in the first quarter. Bellevue Group AG now owns 180 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $76,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. 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.