Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Stock Price Down 0.3% – Here’s What Happened

Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)’s share price fell 0.3% on Friday . The stock traded as low as $447.51 and last traded at $448.14. 3,649,151 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 82% from the average session volume of 20,475,389 shares. The stock had previously closed at $449.56.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on MSFT. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Microsoft from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $550.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Truist Financial restated a “buy” rating and set a $600.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Monday, October 28th. Sanford C. Bernstein reduced their price target on shares of Microsoft from $501.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Oppenheimer cut shares of Microsoft from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Microsoft currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $505.43.

Microsoft Price Performance

The company has a 50 day moving average of $424.16 and a 200 day moving average of $427.63. The company has a current ratio of 1.30, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The firm has a market cap of $3.33 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.90, a P/E/G ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 0.90.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its quarterly 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 company had revenue of $65.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $64.57 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.99 earnings per share. Microsoft’s revenue was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 12.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be issued a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.74%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 27.39%.

Microsoft announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase program on Monday, September 16th that authorizes the company to buyback $60.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the software giant to purchase up to 1.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In related news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 1,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $414.72, for a total value of $414,720.00. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer now owns 57,511 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,850,961.92. This trade represents a 1.71 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $417.00, for a total value of $10,425,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 117,294 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $48,911,598. This trade represents a 17.57 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 41,200 shares of company stock valued at $17,383,892. 0.03% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Microsoft

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Brass Tax Wealth Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter. Brass Tax Wealth Management Inc. now owns 9,819 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $4,225,000 after acquiring an additional 249 shares in the last quarter. Legacy Wealth Management LLC MS boosted its position in Microsoft by 4.5% during the third quarter. Legacy Wealth Management LLC MS now owns 44,895 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $19,318,000 after purchasing an additional 1,933 shares during the last quarter. SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda bought a new position in Microsoft in the third quarter valued at approximately $6,153,000. DGS Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 3.5% during the 3rd quarter. DGS Capital Management LLC now owns 23,905 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $10,286,000 after purchasing an additional 817 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Garden State Investment Advisory Services LLC raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 4.6% during the 3rd quarter. Garden State Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 13,488 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $5,809,000 after purchasing an additional 591 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

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.