Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Stock Price Down 1.7% – Here’s Why

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently commented on MSFT. Piper Sandler upped their target price on shares of Microsoft from $470.00 to $520.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on Microsoft from $500.00 to $495.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Truist Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $600.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Monday, October 28th. Loop Capital increased their price target on Microsoft from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Finally, Mizuho lifted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $480.00 to $510.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $511.62.

Microsoft Stock Performance

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 stock’s 50 day moving average is $428.83 and its 200 day moving average is $427.39. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.11 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.57, a PEG ratio of 2.37 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, beating 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 business had revenue of $65.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $64.57 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.99 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 12.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

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. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.79%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 27.39%.

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

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 57,511 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,850,961.92. The trade was a 1.71 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 117,294 shares in the company, valued at $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 quarter, insiders sold 41,200 shares of company stock valued at $17,383,892. 0.03% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Graypoint LLC grew its holdings in Microsoft by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Graypoint LLC now owns 87,558 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $36,906,000 after purchasing an additional 1,593 shares during the period. RMR Wealth Builders boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 3.6% in the 4th quarter. RMR Wealth Builders now owns 49,658 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $20,931,000 after purchasing an additional 1,739 shares during the last quarter. Tilia Fiduciary Partners Inc. grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Tilia Fiduciary Partners Inc. now owns 12,505 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $5,271,000 after buying an additional 146 shares during the period. Trinity Financial Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. Trinity Financial Advisors LLC now owns 4,127 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,728,000 after buying an additional 108 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC now owns 1,700 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $717,000 after buying an additional 30 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.