Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Stock Price Down 0.5% – Here’s What Happened

Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)’s stock price was down 0.5% during trading on Monday . The company traded as low as $344.79 and last traded at $358.21. Approximately 18,329,224 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 12% from the average daily volume of 20,778,642 shares. The stock had previously closed at $359.84.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $475.00 price objective (down from $500.00) on shares of Microsoft in a report on Monday. Westpark Capital initiated coverage on Microsoft in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $509.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $500.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Tigress Financial lifted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $550.00 to $595.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $508.00.

Microsoft Stock Down 0.6 %

The company has a quick ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.66 trillion, a PE ratio of 28.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.00. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $397.55 and its 200-day moving average price is $416.67.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The software giant reported $3.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 previous year, the business earned $2.93 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 15th will be given a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.93%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 26.73%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in MSFT. GoalVest Advisory LLC lifted its position in Microsoft by 6.6% in the 1st quarter. GoalVest Advisory LLC now owns 11,692 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $4,389,000 after acquiring an additional 724 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 40,290.4% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 46,695,303 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $17,528,950,000 after purchasing an additional 46,579,693 shares during the last quarter. Town & Country Bank & Trust CO dba First Bankers Trust CO lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.9% during the first quarter. Town & Country Bank & Trust CO dba First Bankers Trust CO now owns 28,753 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $10,794,000 after purchasing an additional 263 shares in the last quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 1.2% during the first quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 59,713 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $22,416,000 after buying an additional 689 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Howard Financial Services LTD. increased its holdings in Microsoft by 2.7% in the 1st quarter. Howard Financial Services LTD. now owns 24,443 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $9,176,000 after buying an additional 645 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

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.