Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Trading Down 0.1% – Time to Sell?

Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) shares fell 0.1% during trading on Monday . The stock traded as low as $414.89 and last traded at $416.55. 6,264,631 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 69% from the average session volume of 20,479,543 shares. The stock had previously closed at $417.00.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on MSFT shares. Oppenheimer downgraded Microsoft from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $500.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $495.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 31st. UBS Group lowered their price target on Microsoft from $510.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $503.03.

Microsoft Stock Performance

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 company has a market capitalization of $3.11 trillion, a PE ratio of 34.37, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.91. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $421.94 and a 200 day simple moving average of $426.30.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.10 by $0.20. The firm had revenue of $65.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $64.57 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.61% and a return on equity of 34.56%. The firm’s revenue was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.99 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 12.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 21st will be given a dividend of $0.83 per share. This is an increase from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.79%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. Microsoft’s payout ratio is currently 27.39%.

Microsoft declared that its board has authorized a stock repurchase program on Monday, September 16th that authorizes the company to buyback $60.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the software giant to reacquire up to 1.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In other news, EVP Christopher David Young sold 7,200 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $423.66, for a total transaction of $3,050,352.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 103,366 shares in the company, valued at $43,792,039.56. The trade was a 6.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Satya Nadella sold 78,353 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $408.63, for a total transaction of $32,017,386.39. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 864,327 shares in the company, valued at approximately $353,189,942.01. This trade represents a 8.31 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 183,431 shares of company stock valued at $74,956,968 over the last three months. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Microsoft

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MSFT. WFA Asset Management Corp boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 27.0% in the first quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 1,016 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $427,000 after acquiring an additional 216 shares during the last quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 62.0% during the 1st quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 113,168 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $47,612,000 after purchasing an additional 43,327 shares during the period. Almanack Investment Partners LLC. increased its position in Microsoft by 14.3% during the 1st quarter. Almanack Investment Partners LLC. now owns 8,607 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $3,621,000 after purchasing an additional 1,080 shares in the last quarter. Lincoln National Corp raised its holdings in Microsoft by 3.2% in the first quarter. Lincoln National Corp now owns 214,826 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $90,382,000 after buying an additional 6,724 shares during the period. Finally, Hendley & Co. Inc. lifted its position in Microsoft by 0.8% during the first quarter. Hendley & Co. Inc. now owns 52,309 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $22,007,000 after buying an additional 393 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.