Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Stock Price Down 1.1%

Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) was down 1.1% on Monday . The company traded as low as $399.19 and last traded at $401.95. Approximately 7,424,804 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 66% from the average daily volume of 21,933,494 shares. The stock had previously closed at $406.32.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on MSFT shares. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $465.00 target price (up from $455.00) on shares of Microsoft in a report on Friday. KeyCorp assumed coverage on Microsoft in a report on Thursday, March 21st. They set an “overweight” rating and a $490.00 price target for the company. StockNews.com downgraded Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 22nd. Citigroup cut their target price on Microsoft from $480.00 to $475.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Finally, Truist Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $600.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Monday, March 25th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $452.61.

Microsoft Trading Down 1.3 %

The company has a current ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $414.48 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $388.51. The company has a market capitalization of $2.98 trillion, a PE ratio of 34.80, a PEG ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 0.89.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The software giant reported $2.94 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.81 by $0.13. Microsoft had a net margin of 36.43% and a return on equity of 37.54%. The business had revenue of $61.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $60.86 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.45 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 17.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 11.71 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 16th will be issued a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 15th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.75%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is currently 25.97%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Microsoft news, major shareholder Corp Microsoft sold 1,000,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $1.95, for a total value of $1,950,000.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 11,677,398 shares in the company, valued at $22,770,926.10. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, major shareholder Corp Microsoft sold 1,000,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $1.95, for a total transaction of $1,950,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 11,677,398 shares in the company, valued at $22,770,926.10. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,955 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $403.96, for a total transaction of $8,868,941.80. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 159,764 shares in the company, valued at approximately $64,538,265.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 1,070,258 shares of company stock valued at $30,690,456 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the 4th quarter valued at $35,920,047,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the 4th quarter valued at $9,625,201,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 664,908,939 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $250,032,357,000 after purchasing an additional 15,701,937 shares in the last quarter. TCI Fund Management Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Microsoft during the 4th quarter valued at $4,000,376,000. Finally, FMR LLC raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 2.7% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 215,874,152 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $68,162,263,000 after purchasing an additional 5,762,902 shares in the last quarter. 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.