Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Stock Price Up 0.1% – Here’s What Happened

Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) shares rose 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 trading, a decline of 70% from the average daily volume of 21,669,814 shares. The stock had previously closed at $409.04.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MSFT has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $500.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, January 30th. TD Cowen dropped their price objective on Microsoft from $495.00 to $475.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on Microsoft from $540.00 to $530.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 30th. StockNews.com raised Microsoft from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein dropped their price objective on Microsoft from $501.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 25th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $510.96.

Microsoft Trading Down 0.5 %

The firm has a 50-day moving average of $428.76 and a 200-day moving average of $422.94. 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 market capitalization of $3.04 trillion, a P/E ratio of 32.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.90.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The software giant reported $3.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 last year, the business posted $2.93 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 13.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $423.48, for a total value of $423,480.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer now owns 56,511 shares in the company, valued at $23,931,278.28. This trade represents a 1.74 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $417.00, for a total value of $10,425,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 117,294 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $48,911,598. The trade was a 17.57 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 34,000 shares of company stock worth $14,333,540. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Net Worth Advisory Group purchased a new position in Microsoft during the third quarter valued at $2,645,000. Oak Ridge Investments LLC raised its stake 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 buying an additional 18,544 shares during the last quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp raised its stake in Microsoft by 1.6% during the second quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 1,975,200 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $882,816,000 after buying an additional 31,401 shares during the last quarter. Jacobs & Co. CA raised its stake 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 buying an additional 880 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Focus Financial Network Inc. raised its stake in Microsoft by 2.0% during the third 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 last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

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.