Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Trading Down 0.2%

Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)’s share price was down 0.2% on Thursday . The company traded as low as $430.50 and last traded at $431.11. Approximately 3,764,354 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 82% from the average daily volume of 20,555,195 shares. The stock had previously closed at $432.11.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MSFT has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Truist Financial restated a “buy” rating and set a $600.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Monday, June 17th. TD Cowen upped their price objective on Microsoft from $470.00 to $495.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $506.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Tuesday, September 17th. Argus boosted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $526.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. Finally, UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of Microsoft from $520.00 to $510.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $493.94.

Microsoft Stock Down 0.8 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a current ratio of 1.27. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.18 trillion, a P/E ratio of 37.06, a PEG ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 0.90. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $419.51 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $424.93.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $2.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.90 by $0.05. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.96% and a return on equity of 35.95%. The business had revenue of $64.73 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $64.38 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.69 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 13.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 21st will be given a dividend of $0.83 per share. This is a positive change from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.78%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is currently 28.74%.

Microsoft announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase program on Monday, September 16th that allows the company to repurchase $60.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the software giant to reacquire up to 1.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In related news, CFO Amy Hood sold 38,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $410.55, for a total value of $15,600,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 496,369 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $203,784,292.95. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, CFO Amy Hood sold 38,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $410.55, for a total value of $15,600,900.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 496,369 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $203,784,292.95. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Satya Nadella sold 78,353 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $408.63, for a total transaction of $32,017,386.39. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 864,327 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $353,189,942.01. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 190,629 shares of company stock worth $77,916,485. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Microsoft

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. PGGM Investments raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. PGGM Investments now owns 355,500 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $133,682,000 after acquiring an additional 10,954 shares during the period. Omnia Family Wealth LLC raised its holdings in Microsoft by 6.8% in the 4th quarter. Omnia Family Wealth LLC now owns 9,962 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $3,746,000 after purchasing an additional 635 shares during the period. Stonebrook Private Inc. purchased a new position in Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth approximately $13,926,000. Financial Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Microsoft by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Financial Advisors LLC now owns 21,398 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $8,047,000 after purchasing an additional 295 shares during the period. Finally, Paradigm Financial Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Paradigm Financial Partners LLC now owns 37,926 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $14,262,000 after buying an additional 369 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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.