Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Trading Down 0.4%

Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) fell 0.4% during mid-day trading on Friday . The stock traded as low as $418.03 and last traded at $419.41. 6,404,151 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 70% from the average session volume of 21,376,723 shares. The stock had previously closed at $420.99.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on MSFT. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $480.00 to $500.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Macquarie lifted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $460.00 to $475.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday. UBS Group restated a "buy" rating and set a $480.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Microsoft from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 22nd. Finally, Raymond James restated an "outperform" rating and set a $480.00 price target (up from $450.00) on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-two have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $454.70.

Microsoft Stock Performance

The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $414.77 and its 200 day simple moving average is $395.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a current ratio of 1.24. The company has a market capitalization of $3.12 trillion, a PE ratio of 36.38, a P/E/G ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 0.89.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last issued 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. Microsoft had a net margin of 36.43% and a return on equity of 37.54%. The business had revenue of $61.86 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $60.86 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.45 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 17.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 11.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 16th will be issued a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.71%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 15th. Microsoft's payout ratio is 25.97%.

Insider Activity

In related news, major shareholder Corp Microsoft sold 1,000,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $1.95, for a total transaction of $1,950,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 11,677,398 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,770,926.10. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Microsoft news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,955 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $403.96, for a total transaction of $8,868,941.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 159,764 shares in the company, valued at approximately $64,538,265.44. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, major shareholder Corp Microsoft sold 1,000,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $1.95, for a total transaction of $1,950,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 11,677,398 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $22,770,926.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Microsoft

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Johnson Bixby & Associates LLC increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. Johnson Bixby & Associates LLC now owns 6,481 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $2,727,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Morris Financial Concepts Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Morris Financial Concepts Inc. now owns 2,663 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $1,001,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Innova Wealth Partners increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Innova Wealth Partners now owns 4,239 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $1,594,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Arkansas Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Arkansas Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,719 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $646,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Partnership Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. Partnership Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,202 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $2,609,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.