Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Down 1.6%

Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) fell 1.6% on Tuesday . The company traded as low as $426.10 and last traded at $426.48. 4,011,347 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 81% from the average session volume of 20,614,680 shares. The stock had previously closed at $433.51.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MSFT has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $500.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $550.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Mizuho raised their price target on Microsoft from $450.00 to $480.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on Microsoft from $465.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 12th. Finally, DA Davidson lowered Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $475.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Monday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $493.94.

Microsoft Stock Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 1.27, a current ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $420.51 and a 200-day moving average of $424.50. The stock has a market cap of $3.19 trillion, a PE ratio of 36.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 0.90.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $2.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $64.38 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.69 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast 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. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.83 per share. This is an increase from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.77%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 28.74%.

Microsoft declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback program on Monday, September 16th that allows the company to buyback $60.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the software giant to purchase up to 1.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 78,353 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $408.63, for a total value of $32,017,386.39. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 864,327 shares in the company, valued at $353,189,942.01. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 78,353 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $408.63, for a total transaction of $32,017,386.39. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 864,327 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $353,189,942.01. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Amy Hood sold 38,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $410.55, for a total value of $15,600,900.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 496,369 shares in the company, valued at approximately $203,784,292.95. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 190,629 shares of company stock worth $77,916,485 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Microsoft

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Greater Midwest Financial Group LLC increased its position in Microsoft by 0.3% during the 2nd quarter. Greater Midwest Financial Group LLC now owns 34,941 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $14,566,000 after purchasing an additional 112 shares in the last quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. grew its position in Microsoft by 40.3% in the second quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. now owns 60,347 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $26,972,000 after acquiring an additional 17,320 shares in the last quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC grew its position in Microsoft by 1.2% in the second quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 99,392 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $44,423,000 after acquiring an additional 1,170 shares in the last quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 18.9% during the 2nd quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 4,488,414 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $2,006,097,000 after buying an additional 715,005 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Verity & Verity LLC boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 2.6% during the 2nd quarter. Verity & Verity LLC now owns 64,180 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $28,685,000 after buying an additional 1,635 shares during the last quarter. 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.