Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Stock Price Down 3.7% - Here's What Happened

Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) was down 3.7% on Monday . The company traded as low as $423.50 and last traded at $427.61. Approximately 13,832,878 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 27% from the average daily volume of 18,996,336 shares. The stock had previously closed at $444.06.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on MSFT shares. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their target price on Microsoft from $515.00 to $500.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Truist Financial reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $600.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Sanford C. Bernstein cut their price objective on Microsoft from $501.00 to $500.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 25th. Cantor Fitzgerald assumed coverage on Microsoft in a research report on Friday, January 17th. They set an "overweight" rating and a $509.00 price target on the stock. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut 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. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-seven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $512.66.

Microsoft Stock Down 2.1 %

The company has a market cap of $3.23 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.85, a P/E/G ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.30 and a quick ratio of 1.29. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $431.05 and a 200 day moving average price of $425.30.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.10 by $0.20. Microsoft had a return on equity of 34.56% and a net margin of 35.61%. The firm had revenue of $65.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $64.57 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.99 EPS. The company's revenue was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 12.9 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be issued a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.76%. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 27.39%.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In other news, EVP Christopher David Young sold 7,200 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $423.66, for a total transaction of $3,050,352.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 103,366 shares of the company's stock, valued at $43,792,039.56. This represents a 6.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $417.00, for a total value of $10,425,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 117,294 shares of the company's stock, valued at $48,911,598. This trade represents a 17.57 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 41,200 shares of company stock valued at $17,383,892. 0.03% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Microsoft

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. First National Bank Sioux Falls boosted its position in Microsoft by 0.4% during the second quarter. First National Bank Sioux Falls now owns 6,340 shares of the software giant's stock worth $2,834,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. BCK Partners Inc. raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. BCK Partners Inc. now owns 1,353 shares of the software giant's stock worth $582,000 after buying an additional 24 shares during the period. Muirfield Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Muirfield Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,427 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $1,866,000 after buying an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Wealth Management grew its stake in Microsoft by 0.3% in the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Wealth Management now owns 9,640 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $4,309,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares during the period. Finally, Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators increased its holdings in Microsoft by 0.8% in the 2nd quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators now owns 3,255 shares of the software giant's stock worth $1,455,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.