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Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Stock Price Down 0.1% - Here's Why

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Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) traded down 0.1% during trading on Tuesday . The company traded as low as $415.90 and last traded at $416.58. 3,659,414 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 77% from the average session volume of 16,005,334 shares. The stock had previously closed at $417.19.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently commented on MSFT. DA Davidson lowered shares of Microsoft from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $475.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on Microsoft from $515.00 to $500.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Wedbush reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $550.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $500.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein cut their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $501.00 to $500.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 25th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Microsoft currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $511.62.

Get Our Latest Stock Report on MSFT

Microsoft Stock Down 0.4 %

The company has a market capitalization of $3.09 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.30, a P/E/G ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.30 and a quick ratio of 1.29. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $429.08 and its 200-day moving average price is $426.72.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.10 by $0.20. Microsoft had a return on equity of 34.56% and a net margin of 35.61%. The business had revenue of $65.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $64.57 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.99 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 12.93 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, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be issued a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.80%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. Microsoft's payout ratio is 27.39%.

Microsoft declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback program on Monday, September 16th that authorizes the company to buyback $60.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the software giant to repurchase up to 1.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally a sign that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $447.41, for a total value of $1,118,525.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 49,352 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $22,080,578.32. This trade represents a 4.82 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The shares were 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 owns 117,294 shares in the company, valued at approximately $48,911,598. The trade was a 17.57 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 41,200 shares of company stock valued at $17,383,892. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Microsoft

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of MSFT. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 48,526.1% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 38,501,645 shares of the software giant's stock worth $16,567,258,000 after purchasing an additional 38,422,466 shares in the last quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 47,196.6% in the second quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 4,834,658 shares of the software giant's stock worth $2,160,850,000 after acquiring an additional 4,824,436 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its stake in Microsoft by 76.6% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 10,532,402 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $4,439,407,000 after acquiring an additional 4,568,539 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 2.0% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 165,024,812 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $70,790,682,000 after acquiring an additional 3,264,648 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Baillie Gifford & Co. raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 46.1% during the third quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 7,048,244 shares of the software giant's stock worth $3,032,859,000 after purchasing an additional 2,222,483 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Microsoft Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

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.

Further Reading

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