Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Down 0.5% - Here's Why

Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report)'s share price traded down 0.5% during mid-day trading on Friday . The stock traded as low as $383.00 and last traded at $384.74. 9,011,847 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 53% from the average session volume of 19,226,745 shares. The stock had previously closed at $386.84.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Loop Capital raised their target price on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. Piper Sandler restated an "overweight" rating and set a $520.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a report on Monday, January 27th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $500.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on Microsoft from $515.00 to $475.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Guggenheim restated a "neutral" rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Friday, January 24th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-eight have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $510.59.

Microsoft Trading Up 0.3 %

The company has a market capitalization of $2.92 trillion, a PE ratio of 31.59, a PEG 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 $408.82 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $419.74.

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Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The software giant reported $3.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 last year, the business posted $2.93 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.85%. Microsoft's payout ratio is 26.73%.

Institutional Trading of Microsoft

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MSFT. Norges Bank bought a new position in Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth $44,343,058,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 48,526.1% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 38,501,645 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $16,567,258,000 after purchasing an additional 38,422,466 shares during the period. Proficio Capital Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 34,643.3% during the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in 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 buying an additional 11,600,470 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 684,071,705 shares of the software giant's stock worth $288,336,224,000 after acquiring 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.