Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT – Get Free Report) fell 0.4% on Tuesday . The stock traded as low as $409.68 and last traded at $411.91. 3,931,414 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 82% from the average session volume of 21,261,930 shares. The stock had previously closed at $413.52.
Analysts Set New Price Targets
MSFT has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus restated a “buy” rating and issued a $455.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $465.00 price objective (up previously from $455.00) on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday, April 26th. UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $480.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Truist Financial restated a “buy” rating and set a $600.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a report on Monday, March 25th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 22nd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-two have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Microsoft has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $457.91.
Microsoft Trading Up 0.6 %
The firm has a market capitalization of $3.09 trillion, a PE ratio of 35.66, a P/E/G ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.89. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $416.12 and a 200 day simple moving average of $401.43. The company has a current ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17.
Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT – Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The software giant reported $2.94 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.81 by $0.13. Microsoft had a return on equity of 37.54% and a net margin of 36.43%. The company had revenue of $61.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $60.86 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.45 earnings per share. Microsoft’s revenue was up 17.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 11.77 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, June 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 15th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.72%. Microsoft’s payout ratio is 25.97%.
Insider Activity at Microsoft
In other Microsoft news, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $425.68, for a total value of $10,642,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 104,949 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $44,674,690.32. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,955 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $403.96, for a total value of $8,868,941.80. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 159,764 shares in the company, valued at approximately $64,538,265.44. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $425.68, for a total transaction of $10,642,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 104,949 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $44,674,690.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.03% of the stock is owned by insiders.
Institutional Investors Weigh In On Microsoft
Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Johnson Bixby & Associates LLC increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.4% in the first quarter. Johnson Bixby & Associates LLC now owns 6,481 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $2,727,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Morris Financial Concepts Inc. raised its holdings in 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 buying an additional 25 shares during the period. Innova Wealth Partners lifted its position in Microsoft by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Innova Wealth Partners now owns 4,239 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,594,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Arkansas Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in Microsoft by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Arkansas Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,719 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $646,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the period. Finally, Partnership Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 0.4% in the first quarter. Partnership Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,202 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $2,609,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is owned by 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.