Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Rating Lowered to Hold at StockNews.com

StockNews.com downgraded shares of Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report released on Friday morning.

Several other research firms have also weighed in on MSFT. Guggenheim restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Microsoft from $540.00 to $530.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and set a $520.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Monday, January 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Microsoft from $470.00 to $465.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Loop Capital boosted their target price on Microsoft from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-six have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Microsoft presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $510.96.

Microsoft Trading Up 1.2 %

NASDAQ MSFT opened at $397.12 on Friday. Microsoft has a fifty-two week low of $385.58 and a fifty-two week high of $468.35. 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 has a 50 day simple moving average of $420.68 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $422.62. The stock has a market cap of $2.95 trillion, a P/E ratio of 31.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.90.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The software giant reported $3.23 earnings per share 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 previous year, the company posted $2.93 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Microsoft will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 20th will be given a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.84%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.73%.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In related news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $430.87, for a total transaction of $1,077,175.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer now owns 53,852 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,203,211.24. This represents a 4.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 7,000 shares of company stock worth $3,070,340. 0.03% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Microsoft

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Ball & Co Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Microsoft in the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Microsoft in the fourth quarter worth about $38,000. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc increased its position in Microsoft by 35.7% in the third quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 95 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP purchased a new stake in Microsoft in the second quarter worth about $45,000. Finally, IFS Advisors LLC increased its position in Microsoft by 53.8% in the fourth quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 100 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

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.