Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Stock Price Down 0.3% – What’s Next?

Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) dropped 0.3% during trading on Friday . The stock traded as low as $436.24 and last traded at $436.87. Approximately 5,409,673 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 75% from the average daily volume of 21,357,432 shares. The stock had previously closed at $438.17.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have issued reports on MSFT shares. TD Securities upped their price target on Microsoft from $475.00 to $490.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Microsoft from $500.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Tigress Financial boosted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $550.00 to $595.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, Bank of America reduced their price target on shares of Microsoft from $510.00 to $480.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $507.77.

Microsoft Stock Performance

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 company has a market cap of $3.26 trillion, a P/E ratio of 35.32, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.99. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $389.19 and its 200-day moving average price is $411.63.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.22 by $0.24. The company had revenue of $70.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $68.54 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.43% and a return on equity of 33.36%. The business’s revenue was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.94 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be issued a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.76%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. Microsoft’s payout ratio is 25.66%.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In related news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 75,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $436.05, for a total value of $32,703,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 476,999 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $207,995,413.95. This trade represents a 13.59 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Microsoft

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in MSFT. Muirfield Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Muirfield Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,427 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $1,866,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares during the period. Retirement Financial Solutions LLC raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Retirement Financial Solutions LLC now owns 1,050 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $443,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares during the period. Gagnon Securities LLC increased its stake in Microsoft by 3.5% in the first quarter. Gagnon Securities LLC now owns 704 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $264,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. Sequent Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 1.3% during the third quarter. Sequent Asset Management LLC now owns 1,983 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $853,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cypress Point Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Cypress Point Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,208 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $1,380,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the period. 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.