Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Stock Price Down 1.4% After Analyst Downgrade

Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)’s share price fell 1.4% on Wednesday after Rothschild Redb downgraded the stock from a strong-buy rating to a hold rating. The stock traded as low as $482.83 and last traded at $487.12. 22,396,796 shares changed hands during trading, an increase of 2% from the average session volume of 22,026,490 shares. The stock had previously closed at $493.79.

Other equities analysts have also issued reports about the stock. BNP Paribas Exane boosted their price objective on Microsoft from $630.00 to $632.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, November 3rd. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $625.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Redburn Partners set a $560.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday, October 22nd. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Microsoft from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, October 11th. Finally, Westpark Capital reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-eight have assigned a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Microsoft has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $634.33.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In related news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 149,205 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $504.78, for a total transaction of $75,315,699.90. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 790,852 shares in the company, valued at $399,206,272.56. This trade represents a 15.87% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 38,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $518.64, for a total value of $19,967,640.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 461,597 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $239,402,668.08. This represents a 7.70% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 0.03% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. WFA Asset Management Corp boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 27.0% during the 1st quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 1,016 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $427,000 after purchasing an additional 216 shares in the last quarter. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 0.3% during the second quarter. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. now owns 12,658 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $5,658,000 after buying an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Discipline Wealth Solutions LLC grew its position in Microsoft by 410.4% during the third quarter. Discipline Wealth Solutions LLC now owns 2,659 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,144,000 after buying an additional 2,138 shares during the period. Wealth Group Ltd. grew its position in Microsoft by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Wealth Group Ltd. now owns 2,374 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,000,000 after buying an additional 28 shares during the period. Finally, Eagle Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Microsoft by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Eagle Capital Management LLC now owns 23,097 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $9,735,000 after buying an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Microsoft Stock Performance

The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $514.35 and its 200-day moving average price is $498.33. The company has a market capitalization of $3.62 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.65, a P/E/G ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 1.35 and a current ratio of 1.35.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 29th. The software giant reported $4.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.65 by $0.48. The firm had revenue of $77.67 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $75.49 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 33.47% and a net margin of 35.71%.Microsoft’s revenue was up 18.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $3.30 earnings per share. Microsoft has set its Q2 2026 guidance at EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 20th will be given a $0.91 dividend. This is a boost from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 20th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 25.89%.

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.