Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Reaches New 52-Week Low on Analyst Downgrade

Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) reached a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Monday after Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price target on the stock from $550.00 to $500.00. Jefferies Financial Group currently has a buy rating on the stock. Microsoft traded as low as $368.29 and last traded at $370.46, with a volume of 4077373 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $378.80.

Several other brokerages have also weighed in on MSFT. Mizuho dropped their target price on Microsoft from $510.00 to $500.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Wedbush reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $550.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $509.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Piper Sandler restated an "overweight" rating and issued a $520.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Scotiabank assumed coverage on Microsoft in a report on Thursday, March 20th. They set a "sector outperform" rating and a $470.00 price target on the stock. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Microsoft presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $508.86.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Microsoft

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 684,071,705 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $288,336,224,000 after acquiring an additional 10,431,988 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Microsoft by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 168,128,024 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $70,720,874,000 after purchasing an additional 3,103,212 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at $44,343,058,000. Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 16.1% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 83,787,746 shares of the software giant's stock worth $35,316,535,000 after buying an additional 11,600,470 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 9.8% during the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 59,961,337 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $25,273,704,000 after buying an additional 5,370,546 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Remove Ads

Microsoft Stock Up 1.8 %

The firm has a 50-day moving average of $404.45 and a two-hundred day moving average of $418.77. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.84 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a quick ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The software giant reported $3.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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 period last year, the business earned $2.93 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.87%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio is currently 26.73%.

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.