Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Down 1.1% – Here’s Why

Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)’s share price dropped 1.1% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The company traded as low as $381.00 and last traded at $384.18. Approximately 9,249,516 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 59% from the average daily volume of 22,587,955 shares. The stock had previously closed at $388.49.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MSFT has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Loop Capital increased their target price on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. StockNews.com cut shares of Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday. DA Davidson reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $425.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of Microsoft from $525.00 to $510.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Mizuho dropped their target price on shares of Microsoft from $510.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $510.96.

Microsoft Stock Up 0.0 %

The firm’s 50 day moving average is $419.75 and its two-hundred day moving average is $422.59. The firm has a market cap of $2.89 trillion, a P/E ratio of 31.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The software giant reported $3.23 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 prior year, the company posted $2.93 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Microsoft news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $437.32, for a total transaction of $874,640.00. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 51,852 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,675,916.64. This trade represents a 3.71 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Microsoft

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Dogwood Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Microsoft by 16.5% during the 4th quarter. Dogwood Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,514 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,903,000 after buying an additional 640 shares during the period. Buska Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 20.3% in the fourth quarter. Buska Wealth Management LLC now owns 735 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $310,000 after purchasing an additional 124 shares during the last quarter. Audent Global Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 162.2% in the fourth quarter. Audent Global Asset Management LLC now owns 15,917 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $6,709,000 after purchasing an additional 9,846 shares during the last quarter. American Investment Services Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 3.5% in the fourth quarter. American Investment Services Inc. now owns 1,270 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $535,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cim LLC raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 4.1% in the fourth quarter. Cim LLC now owns 12,483 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $5,262,000 after purchasing an additional 495 shares during the last quarter. 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.