Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Stock Price Down 0.8% – What’s Next?

Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) fell 0.8% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The company traded as low as $415.40 and last traded at $415.94. 5,129,281 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 75% from the average session volume of 20,297,465 shares. The stock had previously closed at $419.14.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MSFT has been the subject of several research reports. Citigroup reduced their price objective on Microsoft from $520.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Mizuho lifted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $450.00 to $480.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. Oppenheimer downgraded shares of Microsoft from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Bank of America lifted their target price on Microsoft from $480.00 to $510.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, Truist Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $600.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $493.47.

Microsoft Stock Performance

The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $418.40 and its 200 day simple moving average is $424.67. The firm has a market cap of $3.10 trillion, a P/E ratio of 36.01, a P/E/G ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a current ratio of 1.27.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $2.95 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.90 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $64.73 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $64.38 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.96% and a return on equity of 35.95%. The firm’s revenue was up 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.69 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 13.02 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be paid a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.80%. This is an increase from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 28.74%.

Microsoft declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback plan on Monday, September 16th that authorizes the company to buyback $60.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the software giant to purchase up to 1.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 40,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $402.59, for a total value of $16,103,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 544,847 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $219,349,953.73. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Microsoft news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 14,398 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, 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 legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 40,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $402.59, for a total value of $16,103,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 544,847 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $219,349,953.73. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In 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 Trading of Microsoft

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of MSFT. RDA Financial Network grew its position in Microsoft by 3.0% in the 3rd quarter. RDA Financial Network now owns 25,514 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $10,979,000 after acquiring an additional 737 shares during the last quarter. Watershed Private Wealth LLC grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 1.7% in the third quarter. Watershed Private Wealth LLC now owns 7,389 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $3,179,000 after purchasing an additional 120 shares during the last quarter. von Borstel & Associates Inc. purchased a new position in Microsoft in the 3rd quarter worth about $283,000. Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 1,959.9% during the 3rd quarter. Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC now owns 7,807 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $3,359,000 after buying an additional 7,428 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Swedbank AB boosted its position in Microsoft by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 13,689,356 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $5,890,530,000 after buying an additional 49,288 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.