Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Trading Down 0% - Here's What Happened

Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report)'s share price dropped 0% on Friday . The stock traded as low as $428.63 and last traded at $436.84. Approximately 12,152,297 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 41% from the average daily volume of 20,554,584 shares. The stock had previously closed at $437.03.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have issued reports on MSFT. Citigroup cut their target price on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $497.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Wedbush reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $550.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. KeyCorp upped their target price on Microsoft from $490.00 to $505.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. UBS Group lifted their price target on Microsoft from $500.00 to $525.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, TD Cowen dropped their price objective on Microsoft from $495.00 to $475.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-six have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $508.46.

Microsoft Stock Down 0.1 %

The stock has a market capitalization of $3.25 trillion, a P/E ratio of 36.02, a PEG ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.90. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $426.62 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $428.26. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last announced 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. The business had revenue of $65.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $64.57 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.61% and a return on equity of 34.56%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.99 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 12.93 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, March 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 20th will be given a dividend of $0.83 per share. 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 dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 27.39%.

Microsoft declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback plan on Monday, September 16th that allows the company to repurchase $60.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the software giant to buy up to 1.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Christopher David Young sold 7,200 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $423.66, for a total transaction of $3,050,352.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 103,366 shares of the company's stock, valued at $43,792,039.56. This represents a 6.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $447.41, for a total transaction of $1,118,525.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer now owns 49,352 shares of the company's stock, valued at $22,080,578.32. This trade represents a 4.82 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 41,200 shares of company stock valued at $17,383,892. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Microsoft

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc lifted its stake in Microsoft by 169.2% in the second quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 70 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 44 shares during the period. Quarry LP bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the 2nd quarter valued at about $45,000. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $62,000. Innealta Capital LLC acquired a new position in Microsoft during the second quarter valued at approximately $75,000. Finally, Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in Microsoft by 10.1% in the third quarter. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 338 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $145,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.