Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Down 0.2%

Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) fell 0.2% during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as low as $416.46 and last traded at $417.53. 2,440,476 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 88% from the average session volume of 20,898,059 shares. The stock had previously closed at $418.47.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently issued reports on MSFT. New Street Research began coverage on Microsoft in a report on Monday, June 10th. They set a "buy" rating and a $570.00 price objective for the company. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $485.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Microsoft from $440.00 to $470.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on Microsoft from $475.00 to $485.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reissued a "buy" rating and set a $455.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-two have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $494.72.

Microsoft Stock Performance

The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $436.72 and a 200-day simple moving average of $422.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 1.27 and a quick ratio of 1.23. The stock has a market cap of $3.13 trillion, a PE ratio of 36.50, a P/E/G ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.90.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $2.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.90 by $0.05. Microsoft had a return on equity of 35.95% and a net margin of 35.96%. The firm had revenue of $64.73 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $64.38 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.69 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 13.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.71%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 15th. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio is presently 25.97%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Microsoft news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 322 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $416.60, for a total transaction of $134,145.20. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer now owns 47,255 shares in the company, valued at $19,686,433. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other Microsoft news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 322 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $416.60, for a total transaction of $134,145.20. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer now owns 47,255 shares in the company, valued at $19,686,433. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $425.68, for a total value of $10,642,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 104,949 shares in the company, valued at approximately $44,674,690.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 25,566 shares of company stock worth $10,877,535 over the last quarter. 0.03% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Rebalance LLC lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 0.7% in the second quarter. Rebalance LLC now owns 3,451 shares of the software giant's stock worth $1,542,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. First National Bank Sioux Falls grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.4% in the 2nd quarter. First National Bank Sioux Falls now owns 6,340 shares of the software giant's stock worth $2,834,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. Johnson Bixby & Associates LLC raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. Johnson Bixby & Associates LLC now owns 6,481 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $2,727,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Morris Financial Concepts Inc. raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Morris Financial Concepts Inc. now owns 2,663 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $1,001,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Innova Wealth Partners raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Innova Wealth Partners now owns 4,239 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $1,594,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.