Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Stock Price Down 0.1% - Time to Sell?

Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) dropped 0.1% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $379.41 and last traded at $379.91. Approximately 5,853,648 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 75% from the average daily volume of 23,064,125 shares. The stock had previously closed at $380.45.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on MSFT shares. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $500.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an "overweight" rating and set a $509.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. UBS Group cut their price target on Microsoft from $525.00 to $510.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Piper Sandler reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $520.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on Microsoft from $515.00 to $475.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 7th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-six have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $509.54.

Microsoft Price Performance

The firm has a market cap of $2.86 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.89, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $414.68 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $421.30.

Remove Ads

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The software giant reported $3.23 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 in the previous year, the company posted $2.93 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.86%. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 26.73%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Microsoft

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth approximately $44,343,058,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in Microsoft by 48,526.1% in the third 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 during the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 34,643.3% during the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 16,837,278 shares of the software giant's stock worth $7,096,913,000 after purchasing an additional 16,788,816 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 16.1% during the 4th 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 last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 684,071,705 shares of the software giant's stock worth $288,336,224,000 after purchasing an additional 10,431,988 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.