Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Trading Down 1.1% – Should You Sell?

Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) dropped 1.1% during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as low as $399.32 and last traded at $403.66. Approximately 10,306,344 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 53% from the average daily volume of 22,125,207 shares. The stock had previously closed at $408.21.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $509.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. DA Davidson reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $425.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on Microsoft from $470.00 to $465.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Guggenheim restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $500.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Microsoft has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $510.96.

Microsoft Trading Down 0.7 %

The firm has a market capitalization of $3.01 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.60, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.90. 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 company has a 50 day moving average price of $425.20 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $423.04.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The software giant reported $3.23 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.93 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be paid a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.82%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is currently 26.73%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $447.41, for a total value of $1,118,525.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer now owns 49,352 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,080,578.32. This represents a 4.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders have sold 8,000 shares of company stock valued at $3,493,820 in the last ninety days. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MSFT. Net Worth Advisory Group purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $2,645,000. Oak Ridge Investments LLC boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 7.6% during the third quarter. Oak Ridge Investments LLC now owns 263,534 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $113,399,000 after buying an additional 18,544 shares during the period. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 1.6% in the 2nd 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 period. Jacobs & Co. CA lifted its stake in Microsoft by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Jacobs & Co. CA now owns 96,021 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $41,318,000 after acquiring an additional 880 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Focus Financial Network Inc. boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. Focus Financial Network Inc. now owns 76,296 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $32,830,000 after acquiring an additional 1,489 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.