Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Down 0.2% – What’s Next?

Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) traded down 0.2% on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $392.18 and last traded at $394.32. 4,015,242 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 79% from the average session volume of 19,257,970 shares. The stock had previously closed at $395.16.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Guggenheim restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $500.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Mizuho lowered their target price on shares of Microsoft from $510.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $550.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Three research 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, Microsoft has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $510.59.

Microsoft Price Performance

The company’s 50-day moving average is $406.52 and its two-hundred day moving average is $419.25. The firm has a market cap of $2.88 trillion, a P/E ratio of 31.27, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.92. 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 announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The software giant reported $3.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 period in the previous year, the business earned $2.93 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.86%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.73%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Microsoft

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter valued at about $44,343,058,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its position in Microsoft by 48,526.1% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 38,501,645 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $16,567,258,000 after buying an additional 38,422,466 shares during the period. Proficio Capital Partners LLC increased its position in Microsoft by 34,643.3% in the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 16,837,278 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $7,096,913,000 after acquiring an additional 16,788,816 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 16.1% during 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 acquiring an additional 11,600,470 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 1.5% in 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 last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

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.