Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Trading Down 1.1% - Time to Sell?

Key Points

• Microsoft's stock price declined by 1.1%, closing at $501.31, with a significant drop in trading volume.
• Analysts have maintained a generally positive outlook for Microsoft, with multiple brokerages raising their target prices, the consensus now averaging $612.54.
• The company recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.83 per share, with a dividend yield of 0.7%.

Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) shares dropped 1.1% during trading on Tuesday . The company traded as low as $496.81 and last traded at $501.31. Approximately 4,722,326 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 79% from the average daily volume of 22,193,807 shares. The stock had previously closed at $506.69.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MSFT has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Barclays reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $625.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday, August 29th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on Microsoft from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, July 28th. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $605.00 to $613.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Mizuho increased their price objective on Microsoft from $540.00 to $625.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, UBS Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $650.00 target price (up previously from $600.00) on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, July 31st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have given a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $612.54.

Microsoft Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 1.35. The stock's fifty day moving average is $509.95 and its 200-day moving average is $450.01. The stock has a market cap of $3.78 trillion, a PE ratio of 37.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.04.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $3.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.35 by $0.30. Microsoft had a net margin of 36.15% and a return on equity of 32.44%. The business had revenue of $76.44 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $73.79 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.95 EPS. The business's revenue was up 18.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Microsoft has set its Q1 2026 guidance at EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 21st will be issued a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 21st. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 24.34%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,850 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $527.32, for a total transaction of $2,557,502.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 39,111 shares in the company, valued at $20,624,012.52. This trade represents a 11.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Satya Nadella sold 149,205 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $504.78, for a total value of $75,315,699.90. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 790,852 shares in the company, valued at $399,206,272.56. This represents a 15.87% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.03% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. AlphaQuest LLC increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 5.9% during the 2nd quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 342 shares of the software giant's stock worth $170,000 after purchasing an additional 19 shares in the last quarter. PMV Capital Advisers LLC increased its holdings in Microsoft by 5.9% during the 2nd quarter. PMV Capital Advisers LLC now owns 359 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $178,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Seek First Inc. raised its position in Microsoft by 1.5% in the 2nd quarter. Seek First Inc. now owns 1,358 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $675,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Level Financial Advisors grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.8% during the second quarter. Level Financial Advisors now owns 2,680 shares of the software giant's stock worth $1,333,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Red Mountain Financial LLC raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.7% in the second quarter. Red Mountain Financial LLC now owns 2,761 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $1,373,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. 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.