Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Stock Price Down 0.8% – What’s Next?

Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)’s share price fell 0.8% during mid-day trading on Friday . The stock traded as low as $363.99 and last traded at $369.95. 14,260,830 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 31% from the average session volume of 20,627,217 shares. The stock had previously closed at $373.11.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on MSFT shares. Guggenheim reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $520.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Monday, January 27th. StockNews.com lowered Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. Mizuho cut their target price on Microsoft from $510.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, DA Davidson raised Microsoft from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $425.00 to $450.00 in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $508.86.

Microsoft Stock Down 3.6 %

The company has a quick ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $399.08 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $417.30. The company has a market cap of $2.68 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.97, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.00.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The software giant reported $3.23 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 period in the prior year, the company posted $2.93 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast 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. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be given a dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.92%. Microsoft’s payout ratio is currently 26.73%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Microsoft by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 684,071,705 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $288,336,224,000 after purchasing an additional 10,431,988 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Microsoft by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 168,128,024 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $70,720,874,000 after buying an additional 3,103,212 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at $44,343,058,000. Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in Microsoft by 16.1% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 83,787,746 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $35,316,535,000 after buying an additional 11,600,470 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 9.8% during the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 59,961,337 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $25,273,704,000 after buying an additional 5,370,546 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.