Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Down 0.1% – What’s Next?

Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)’s stock price dropped 0.1% during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $379.41 and last traded at $379.91. Approximately 5,853,648 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 75% from the average daily volume of 23,064,125 shares. The stock had previously closed at $380.45.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have commented on MSFT. Loop Capital upped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $550.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. UBS Group reduced their target price on shares of Microsoft from $525.00 to $510.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $509.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their target price 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. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $509.54.

Microsoft Trading Up 1.2 %

The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $414.68 and a 200 day simple moving average of $421.30. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.86 trillion, a PE ratio of 30.89, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.92.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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 net margin of 35.43% and a return on equity of 33.36%. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.93 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.86%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 26.73%.

Institutional Trading of Microsoft

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Net Worth Advisory Group acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft during the third quarter valued at about $2,645,000. Oak Ridge Investments LLC increased its position in Microsoft by 7.6% during the third quarter. Oak Ridge Investments LLC now owns 263,534 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $113,399,000 after acquiring an additional 18,544 shares during the last quarter. Jacobs & Co. CA boosted its position in Microsoft by 0.9% during the third quarter. Jacobs & Co. CA now owns 96,021 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $41,318,000 after purchasing an additional 880 shares in the last quarter. Focus Financial Network Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. Focus Financial Network Inc. now owns 76,296 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $32,830,000 after buying an additional 1,489 shares during the period. Finally, Campbell Wealth Management acquired a new position in Microsoft in the 3rd quarter valued at about $3,314,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.