Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Down 0.2% - Here's Why

Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report)'s stock price fell 0.2% during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as low as $405.57 and last traded at $409.71. 4,384,528 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 78% from the average session volume of 20,352,674 shares. The stock had previously closed at $410.37.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have commented on MSFT. TD Cowen decreased their target price on shares of Microsoft from $495.00 to $475.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. UBS Group lowered their price objective on Microsoft from $510.00 to $500.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Piper Sandler reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $470.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price target on Microsoft from $515.00 to $500.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, DA Davidson downgraded shares of Microsoft from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $475.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Monday, September 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and twenty-six have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $503.03.

Microsoft Stock Down 0.5 %

The company has a market cap of $3.04 trillion, a PE ratio of 33.70, a P/E/G ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 0.91. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $420.59 and a 200-day simple moving average of $424.74. The company has a quick ratio of 1.27, a current ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.10 by $0.20. The firm had revenue of $65.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $64.57 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.61% and a return on equity of 34.56%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.99 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 12.98 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.81%. This is a boost from Microsoft's previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. Microsoft's payout ratio is presently 27.39%.

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

Insider Activity

In other Microsoft news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 14,398 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 23rd. The shares were 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 trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $411.04, for a total transaction of $1,027,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 50,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $20,552,000. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Satya Nadella sold 14,398 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $417.41, for a total value 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 approximately $328,473,703.53. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 190,629 shares of company stock valued at $77,916,485. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of MSFT. Rebalance LLC grew its position in Microsoft by 0.7% during the 2nd quarter. Rebalance LLC now owns 3,451 shares of the software giant's stock worth $1,542,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. First National Bank Sioux Falls lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.4% during the second quarter. First National Bank Sioux Falls now owns 6,340 shares of the software giant's stock worth $2,834,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares during the period. BCK Partners Inc. grew its position in Microsoft by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. BCK Partners Inc. now owns 1,353 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $582,000 after buying an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. Doheny Asset Management CA increased its stake in Microsoft by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. Doheny Asset Management CA now owns 6,397 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $2,691,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the period. Finally, Flagship Private Wealth LLC lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 2.8% in the 2nd quarter. Flagship Private Wealth LLC now owns 913 shares of the software giant's stock worth $408,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company's stock.

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.