Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Trading Down 0.1%

Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report)'s stock price traded down 0.1% on Friday . The company traded as low as $429.90 and last traded at $430.86. 3,436,354 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 83% from the average session volume of 20,519,004 shares. The stock had previously closed at $431.31.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Mizuho upped their target price on shares of Microsoft from $450.00 to $480.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $500.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Microsoft from $480.00 to $510.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Truist Financial reissued a "buy" rating and set a $600.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Monday, June 17th. Finally, New Street Research assumed coverage on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Monday, June 10th. They set a "buy" rating and a $570.00 price objective on the stock. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $493.94.

Microsoft Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a current ratio of 1.27. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $419.69 and its 200-day simple moving average is $424.76. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.18 trillion, a PE ratio of 37.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 0.90.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 35.96% and a return on equity of 35.95%. The business had revenue of $64.73 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $64.38 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.69 EPS. The company's revenue was up 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 13.04 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 21st will be issued a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. This is a positive change from Microsoft's previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.78%. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 25.97%.

Microsoft declared that its board has authorized a share repurchase plan on Monday, September 16th that allows the company to repurchase $60.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the software giant to purchase up to 1.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In related news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 14,398 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, August 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $417.41, for a total value of $6,009,869.18. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 786,933 shares of the company's stock, valued at $328,473,703.53. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other Microsoft news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 40,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on Monday, September 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $402.59, for a total transaction of $16,103,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 544,847 shares of the company's stock, valued at $219,349,953.73. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Satya Nadella sold 14,398 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on Friday, August 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $417.41, for a total transaction of $6,009,869.18. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 786,933 shares of the company's stock, valued at $328,473,703.53. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 190,629 shares of company stock valued at $77,916,485. 0.03% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of MSFT. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 169.2% during the second quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 70 shares of the software giant's stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the second quarter worth $45,000. Neo Ivy Capital Management bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth $58,000. Richardson Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 1,290.0% during the first quarter. Richardson Capital Management LLC now owns 139 shares of the software giant's stock worth $59,000 after purchasing an additional 129 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Innealta Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the second quarter worth $75,000. 71.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.