Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Down 1.7% on Analyst Downgrade

Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report)'s share price fell 1.7% on Wednesday after Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on the stock from $530.00 to $472.00. Morgan Stanley currently has an overweight rating on the stock. Microsoft traded as low as $375.90 and last traded at $379.04. 4,305,116 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 80% from the average session volume of 21,165,243 shares. The stock had previously closed at $385.73.

A number of other research firms have also recently commented on MSFT. StockNews.com cut Microsoft from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. Guggenheim reaffirmed a "neutral" rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Friday, January 24th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on shares of Microsoft from $515.00 to $475.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Wedbush cut their price objective on Microsoft from $550.00 to $475.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 10th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped 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. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $499.97.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Microsoft

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Adamsbrown Wealth Consultants LLC raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Adamsbrown Wealth Consultants LLC now owns 5,967 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $2,515,000 after purchasing an additional 130 shares during the last quarter. Oak Ridge Investments LLC grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 7.6% in the third quarter. Oak Ridge Investments LLC now owns 263,534 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $113,399,000 after acquiring an additional 18,544 shares in the last quarter. Focus Financial Network Inc. lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 2.0% during the third quarter. Focus Financial Network Inc. now owns 76,296 shares of the software giant's stock worth $32,830,000 after acquiring an additional 1,489 shares during the period. Campbell Wealth Management bought a new position in Microsoft in the 3rd quarter valued at $3,314,000. Finally, Romano Brothers AND Company increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. Romano Brothers AND Company now owns 42,176 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $18,148,000 after purchasing an additional 962 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Microsoft Stock Down 1.0 %

The stock's fifty day moving average is $388.25 and its two-hundred day moving average is $412.78. 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 company has a market capitalization of $2.73 trillion, a PE ratio of 29.61, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.00.

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. As a group, analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be paid a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.90%. Microsoft's payout ratio is 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.