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

Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) shares dropped 0.2% on Friday . The stock traded as low as $417.80 and last traded at $422.10. Approximately 6,418,603 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 69% from the average daily volume of 20,512,168 shares. The stock had previously closed at $422.99.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MSFT has been the topic of a number of research reports. TD Cowen reduced their target price on shares of Microsoft from $495.00 to $475.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Oppenheimer cut Microsoft from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Wells Fargo & Company reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Friday, October 18th. UBS Group reduced their price target on Microsoft from $510.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Truist Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $600.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $503.03.

Microsoft Stock Performance

The company has a current ratio of 1.30, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.15 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.83, a PEG ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 0.91. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $421.07 and its 200 day moving average is $426.39.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.10 by $0.20. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.61% and a return on equity of 34.56%. The business had revenue of $65.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $64.57 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.99 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 12.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be given a $0.83 dividend. This is an increase from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.78%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is currently 27.39%.

Microsoft announced that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Monday, September 16th that authorizes the company to buyback $60.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the software giant to buy up to 1.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In related news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 78,353 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $408.63, for a total value of $32,017,386.39. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 864,327 shares in the company, valued at approximately $353,189,942.01. This represents a 8.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 40,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $402.59, for a total value of $16,103,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 544,847 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $219,349,953.73. This trade represents a 6.84 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 209,431 shares of company stock valued at $85,796,688. 0.03% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Microsoft

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 169.2% in the 2nd quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 70 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP acquired a new position in Microsoft during the second quarter valued at approximately $45,000. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Microsoft during the third quarter worth approximately $62,000. Innealta Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the second quarter worth $75,000. Finally, Bellevue Group AG lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 47.5% during the 1st quarter. Bellevue Group AG now owns 180 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $76,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.