Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Down 1.8% – Here’s Why

Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) shares dropped 1.8% during trading on Thursday . The company traded as low as $475.50 and last traded at $478.43. Approximately 25,543,173 shares traded hands during trading, an increase of 16% from the average daily volume of 22,046,486 shares. The stock had previously closed at $487.12.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have issued reports on MSFT. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their target price on shares of Microsoft from $637.00 to $645.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Scotiabank upped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Mizuho cut Microsoft from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Baird R W raised Microsoft to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 14th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-seven have assigned a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Microsoft has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $634.33.

Microsoft Price Performance

The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $514.09 and its 200 day simple moving average is $498.25. The company has a quick ratio of 1.35, a current ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.56 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.03, a P/E/G ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.02.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its quarterly earnings results 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 company had revenue of $77.67 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $75.49 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 33.47% and a net margin of 35.71%.The firm’s revenue was up 18.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $3.30 EPS. Microsoft has set its Q2 2026 guidance at EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 20th will be issued a $0.91 dividend. This is a boost from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 20th. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.8%. Microsoft’s payout ratio is 25.89%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 149,205 shares of the 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 790,852 shares in the company, valued at $399,206,272.56. This represents a 15.87% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 38,500 shares of the 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 directly owned 461,597 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $239,402,668.08. This represents a 7.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 0.03% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Microsoft

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in MSFT. Newton One Investments LLC boosted its stake in Microsoft by 66.7% during the first quarter. Newton One Investments LLC now owns 75 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 51.3% during the 2nd quarter. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC now owns 59 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares during the period. Bulwark Capital Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the 2nd quarter valued at about $32,000. Westend Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Microsoft by 386.7% in the second quarter. Westend Capital Management LLC now owns 73 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares during the period. Finally, Bayforest Capital Ltd acquired a new position in Microsoft in the third quarter worth about $38,000. 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.