Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Trading Down 0.1% – Here’s What Happened

Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) shares traded down 0.1% during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $407.65 and last traded at $409.27. 3,541,648 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 84% from the average session volume of 21,670,289 shares. The stock had previously closed at $409.64.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. Mizuho reduced their price target on Microsoft from $510.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on Microsoft from $470.00 to $465.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 31st. BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on Microsoft from $500.00 to $495.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, DA Davidson reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $425.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $510.96.

Microsoft Stock Down 1.9 %

The firm has a market capitalization of $3.03 trillion, a P/E ratio of 32.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.90. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $425.98 and a 200 day moving average price of $422.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 1.34.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its earnings results 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 return on equity of 33.36% and a net margin of 35.43%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.93 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 13.07 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be issued a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.81%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. Microsoft’s payout ratio is 26.73%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $430.87, for a total value of $1,077,175.00. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 53,852 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,203,211.24. The trade was a 4.44 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 8,000 shares of company stock valued at $3,493,820. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Ball & Co Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in Microsoft in the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the 4th quarter valued at $38,000. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 35.7% during the 3rd quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 95 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $39,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the 2nd quarter valued at $45,000. Finally, IFS Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 53.8% during the 4th quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 100 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is 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.