Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Stock Price Down 1.7% on Analyst Downgrade

Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)’s share price was down 1.7% on Friday after Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on the stock from $515.00 to $475.00. Stifel Nicolaus currently has a buy rating on the stock. Microsoft traded as low as $388.33 and last traded at $390.04. Approximately 5,840,652 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 74% from the average daily volume of 22,692,455 shares. The stock had previously closed at $396.89.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on Microsoft from $540.00 to $530.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $520.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Monday, January 27th. UBS Group decreased their target price on Microsoft from $525.00 to $510.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $550.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, Mizuho decreased their price target on shares of Microsoft from $510.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $509.54.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In related news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, December 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $447.41, for a total transaction of $1,118,525.00. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 49,352 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,080,578.32. This represents a 4.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Microsoft

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Ball & Co Wealth Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth $38,000. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 35.7% in the third quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 95 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft during the second quarter valued at about $45,000. Finally, IFS Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 53.8% during the fourth quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 100 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Microsoft Stock Down 1.0 %

The company has a market cap of $2.92 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a current ratio of 1.35. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $417.14 and its two-hundred day moving average is $422.06.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The software giant reported $3.23 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.15 by $0.08. Microsoft had a return on equity of 33.36% and a net margin of 35.43%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.93 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.