Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Trading Down 0.3% – Here’s What Happened

Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) traded down 0.3% during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as low as $385.93 and last traded at $387.40. 3,667,559 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 84% from the average session volume of 22,940,506 shares. The stock had previously closed at $388.56.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have issued reports on the stock. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $520.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Mizuho dropped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $510.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $500.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $540.00 to $530.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $515.00 to $475.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $510.43.

Microsoft Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a current ratio of 1.35. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $412.43 and its 200 day moving average price is $420.64. The company has a market cap of $2.89 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.27, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.92.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The software giant reported $3.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.15 by $0.08. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.43% and a return on equity of 33.36%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.93 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be paid a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.85%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.73%.

Institutional Trading of Microsoft

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of MSFT. BCK Partners Inc. grew its stake in Microsoft by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. BCK Partners Inc. now owns 1,353 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $582,000 after buying an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. Muirfield Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in Microsoft by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Muirfield Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,427 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $1,866,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares during the period. Retirement Financial Solutions LLC grew its stake in Microsoft by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Retirement Financial Solutions LLC now owns 1,050 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $443,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares during the period. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.8% in the third quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates now owns 2,997 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $1,290,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 35.7% during the third quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 95 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is currently 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.