Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Down 2.3% – Should You Sell?

Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) was down 2.3% during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $475.20 and last traded at $478.5410. Approximately 33,500,425 shares were traded during mid-day trading, an increase of 51% from the average daily volume of 22,199,627 shares. The stock had previously closed at $490.00.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Evercore ISI set a $640.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, October 30th. UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $650.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Baird R W raised Microsoft to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 14th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday, November 19th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-seven have assigned a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $634.33.

Microsoft Trading Down 2.3%

The stock has a market cap of $3.56 trillion, a P/E ratio of 34.04, a PEG ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a current ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $509.01 and its 200 day moving average price is $501.08.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The software giant reported $4.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.65 by $0.48. The company had revenue of $77.67 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $75.49 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.71% and a return on equity of 32.45%. Microsoft’s revenue was up 18.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $3.30 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 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 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 19th will be paid a dividend of $0.91 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 19th. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.8%. Microsoft’s payout ratio is presently 25.89%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 38,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $518.64, for a total value of $19,967,640.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 461,597 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $239,402,668.08. This represents a 7.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Microsoft

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 51.3% during the second quarter. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC now owns 59 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Bulwark Capital Corp bought a new stake in Microsoft in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $32,000. Westend Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Microsoft by 386.7% during the 2nd quarter. Westend Capital Management LLC now owns 73 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. Bayforest Capital Ltd purchased a new stake in Microsoft during the 3rd quarter valued at $38,000. Finally, Sellwood Investment Partners LLC purchased a new position in Microsoft in the third quarter worth about $49,000. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.