Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Cut to “Hold” at StockNews.com

StockNews.com cut shares of Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report released on Friday.

Other analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. KeyCorp increased their price target on Microsoft from $490.00 to $505.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Microsoft from $506.00 to $548.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Wells Fargo & Company restated a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday, October 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their target price on shares of Microsoft from $515.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $495.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Microsoft presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $508.46.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of MSFT opened at $436.60 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $427.02 and a 200-day moving average of $428.42. Microsoft has a 52 week low of $366.50 and a 52 week high of $468.35. The firm has a market cap of $3.25 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.02, a PEG ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a current ratio of 1.30, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.10 by $0.20. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.61% and a return on equity of 34.56%. The company had revenue of $65.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $64.57 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.99 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that Microsoft will post 12.93 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be given a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.76%. Microsoft’s payout ratio is 27.39%.

Microsoft declared that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Monday, September 16th that permits the company to repurchase $60.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the software giant to buy up to 1.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Microsoft news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $414.72, for a total value of $414,720.00. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 57,511 shares in the company, valued at $23,850,961.92. This trade represents a 1.71 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $417.00, for a total value of $10,425,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 117,294 shares in the company, valued at $48,911,598. The trade was a 17.57 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 41,200 shares of company stock worth $17,383,892. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Microsoft

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. WFA Asset Management Corp grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 27.0% during the first quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 1,016 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $427,000 after purchasing an additional 216 shares during the period. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in Microsoft by 62.0% during the first quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 113,168 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $47,612,000 after acquiring an additional 43,327 shares in the last quarter. Quent Capital LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 4.3% in the 1st quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 35,888 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $15,099,000 after buying an additional 1,467 shares during the last quarter. Western Pacific Wealth Management LP grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 2.9% in the 1st quarter. Western Pacific Wealth Management LP now owns 13,003 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $5,471,000 after acquiring an additional 367 shares during the period. Finally, Plato Investment Management Ltd grew its holdings in Microsoft by 987.5% during the first quarter. Plato Investment Management Ltd now owns 150,863 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $63,471,000 after purchasing an additional 136,991 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.