Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Trading Up 0.1% – Here’s Why

Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)’s share price was up 0.1% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $410.42 and last traded at $409.41. Approximately 6,560,252 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 70% from the average daily volume of 21,669,814 shares. The stock had previously closed at $409.04.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have commented on MSFT shares. TD Cowen lowered their target price on shares of Microsoft from $495.00 to $475.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $540.00 to $530.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Mizuho lowered their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $510.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $550.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Microsoft from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Microsoft currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $510.96.

Microsoft Trading Up 0.1 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a current ratio of 1.35. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $430.11 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $423.13. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.04 trillion, a P/E ratio of 32.93, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.90.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The software giant reported $3.23 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.15 by $0.08. Microsoft had a return on equity of 33.36% and a net margin of 35.43%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.93 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 13.07 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 20th will be given a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.81%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 26.73%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $417.00, for a total transaction of $10,425,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 117,294 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $48,911,598. This represents a 17.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $423.48, for a total value of $423,480.00. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 56,511 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,931,278.28. This trade represents a 1.74 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 34,000 shares of company stock worth $14,333,540. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Microsoft

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Accredited Investors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 70.5% during the fourth quarter. Accredited Investors Inc. now owns 37,584 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $15,842,000 after acquiring an additional 15,540 shares in the last quarter. Zuckerman Investment Group LLC boosted its position in Microsoft by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Zuckerman Investment Group LLC now owns 65,418 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $26,882,000 after purchasing an additional 465 shares during the last quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina boosted its position in Microsoft by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 3,403,483 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,434,568,000 after purchasing an additional 25,274 shares during the last quarter. Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. boosted its position in Microsoft by 5.4% in the fourth quarter. Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 35,355 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $14,902,000 after purchasing an additional 1,803 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Redwood Park Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Microsoft in the fourth quarter worth about $474,000. Hedge funds and other 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.