Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Trading Down 0.4% – Should You Sell?

Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) traded down 0.4% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The company traded as low as $409.30 and last traded at $410.77. 4,227,445 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 81% from the average session volume of 21,815,904 shares. The stock had previously closed at $412.22.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $500.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Citigroup decreased their target price on Microsoft from $500.00 to $497.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Friday, October 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on Microsoft from $470.00 to $465.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, UBS Group cut their price target on shares of Microsoft from $525.00 to $510.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $510.96.

Microsoft Stock Performance

The stock has a market cap of $3.05 trillion, a P/E ratio of 33.03, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 1.34. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $431.07 and a 200-day simple moving average of $423.29.

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, beating 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 quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.93 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 13.07 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be issued a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.81%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. Microsoft’s payout ratio is 26.73%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other news, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $417.00, for a total value of $10,425,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 117,294 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $48,911,598. This represents a 17.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $414.72, for a total transaction of $414,720.00. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 57,511 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,850,961.92. This represents a 1.71 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 34,000 shares of company stock worth $14,333,540. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Microsoft

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MSFT. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Microsoft in the fourth quarter worth $38,000. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc grew its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 25 shares during the period. Quarry LP acquired a new stake in Microsoft in the second quarter valued at approximately $45,000. IFS Advisors LLC grew its stake in Microsoft by 53.8% in the fourth quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 100 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares during the period. Finally, Avondale Wealth Management grew its position in Microsoft by 144.4% in the 4th quarter. Avondale Wealth Management now owns 110 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.