Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Down 2.8% on Analyst Downgrade

Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) fell 2.8% on Monday after Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price target on the stock from $550.00 to $500.00. Jefferies Financial Group currently has a buy rating on the stock. Microsoft traded as low as $367.38 and last traded at $368.11. 7,444,809 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 64% from the average session volume of 20,476,308 shares. The stock had previously closed at $378.80.

A number of other research firms also recently weighed in on MSFT. DA Davidson upgraded Microsoft from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their price target for the company from $425.00 to $450.00 in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. Guggenheim reissued a "neutral" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Scotiabank initiated coverage on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. They set a "sector outperform" rating and a $470.00 price target on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $515.00 to $475.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Finally, 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. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-eight have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $508.86.

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Institutional Trading of Microsoft

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Net Worth Advisory Group bought a new position in Microsoft during the 3rd quarter valued at $2,645,000. Adamsbrown Wealth Consultants LLC lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 2.2% during 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 in the last quarter. Oak Ridge Investments LLC boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 7.6% during the third quarter. Oak Ridge Investments LLC now owns 263,534 shares of the software giant's stock worth $113,399,000 after purchasing an additional 18,544 shares during the last quarter. Focus Financial Network Inc. grew its position in Microsoft by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. Focus Financial Network Inc. now owns 76,296 shares of the software giant's stock worth $32,830,000 after purchasing an additional 1,489 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Campbell Wealth Management bought a new stake in Microsoft in the 3rd quarter worth about $3,314,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Microsoft Stock Performance

The company's 50-day simple moving average is $404.45 and its 200 day simple moving average is $418.77. The stock has a market cap of $2.84 trillion, a P/E ratio of 30.77, 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.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The software giant reported $3.23 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 quarter last year, the company earned $2.93 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be issued a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.87%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. 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.