Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Trading Down 0.1%

Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) shares dropped 0.1% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $457.88 and last traded at $458.61. Approximately 3,405,588 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 84% from the average daily volume of 20,717,828 shares. The stock had previously closed at $459.28.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MSFT has been the subject of several research reports. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $500.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday, May 24th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $455.00 to $465.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 12th. Stifel Nicolaus reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $455.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $480.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Finally, Macquarie increased their price target on Microsoft from $460.00 to $475.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 17th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $467.12.

Microsoft Stock Up 0.3 %

The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $427.29 and its 200-day simple moving average is $411.76. The company has a current ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.42 trillion, a P/E ratio of 39.89, a P/E/G ratio of 2.17 and a beta of 0.89.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The software giant reported $2.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.81 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $61.86 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $60.86 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 37.54% and a net margin of 36.43%. Microsoft’s quarterly revenue was up 17.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.45 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict 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, September 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 15th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.65%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.97%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 244 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $415.53, for a total transaction of $101,389.32. Following the completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer now owns 47,011 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,534,480.83. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 244 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $415.53, for a total transaction of $101,389.32. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer now owns 47,011 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,534,480.83. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 23rd. The stock was 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 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. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 25,566 shares of company stock valued at $10,877,535. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Microsoft

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Friedenthal Financial bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter valued at about $45,000. Neo Ivy Capital Management purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft during the 4th quarter valued at $58,000. Richardson Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 1,290.0% during the 1st quarter. Richardson Capital Management LLC now owns 139 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $59,000 after purchasing an additional 129 shares in the last quarter. PayPay Securities Corp increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 23.7% in the fourth quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 188 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $71,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares during the period. Finally, Bellevue Group AG raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 47.5% in the first quarter. Bellevue Group AG now owns 180 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $76,000 after buying an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.