Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Down 0.6% - Here's Why

Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) shares dropped 0.6% during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as low as $387.65 and last traded at $389.51. Approximately 4,283,123 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 80% from the average daily volume of 21,102,800 shares. The stock had previously closed at $391.85.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently commented on MSFT shares. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on Microsoft from $515.00 to $475.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price target on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $450.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. Tigress Financial boosted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $550.00 to $595.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Microsoft from $515.00 to $500.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Microsoft from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Microsoft has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $493.89.

Microsoft Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 1.34. The firm has a market cap of $2.90 trillion, a PE ratio of 31.38, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.00. The business's fifty day moving average is $384.93 and its 200-day moving average is $411.34.

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

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be given 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 currently 26.73%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of MSFT. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth about $44,343,058,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in Microsoft by 40,290.4% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 46,695,303 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $17,528,950,000 after acquiring an additional 46,579,693 shares in the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 34,643.3% in the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 16,837,278 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $7,096,913,000 after purchasing an additional 16,788,816 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 16.1% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 83,787,746 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $35,316,535,000 after purchasing an additional 11,600,470 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 684,071,705 shares of the software giant's stock worth $288,336,224,000 after buying an additional 10,431,988 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.

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