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

Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) dropped 0.1% during trading on Monday . The company traded as low as $445.28 and last traded at $446.76. Approximately 4,314,033 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 79% from the average daily volume of 20,475,893 shares. The stock had previously closed at $447.27.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on Microsoft from $515.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $550.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Mizuho upped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $480.00 to $510.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday. Oppenheimer lowered shares of Microsoft from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Microsoft from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $505.43.

Microsoft Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a current ratio of 1.30. The firm has a market cap of $3.36 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 0.90. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $424.16 and its 200-day moving average is $427.61.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.10 by $0.20. Microsoft had a return on equity of 34.56% and a net margin of 35.61%. The company had revenue of $65.59 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $64.57 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.99 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 12.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 20th will be given a dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.74%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is presently 27.39%.

Microsoft announced that its board has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Monday, September 16th that allows the company to repurchase $60.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the software giant to repurchase up to 1.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In related news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $414.72, for a total value of $414,720.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 57,511 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,850,961.92. This represents a 1.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Christopher David Young sold 7,200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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. This trade represents a 6.51 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 41,200 shares of company stock worth $17,383,892. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Microsoft

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Brass Tax Wealth Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter. Brass Tax Wealth Management Inc. now owns 9,819 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $4,225,000 after purchasing an additional 249 shares during the last quarter. Legacy Wealth Management LLC MS grew its position in Microsoft by 4.5% during the 3rd quarter. Legacy Wealth Management LLC MS now owns 44,895 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $19,318,000 after acquiring an additional 1,933 shares during the last quarter. SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda acquired a new stake in Microsoft during the 3rd quarter valued at $6,153,000. DGS Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Microsoft by 3.5% in the third quarter. DGS Capital Management LLC now owns 23,905 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $10,286,000 after purchasing an additional 817 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Garden State Investment Advisory Services LLC grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 4.6% during the third quarter. Garden State Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 13,488 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $5,809,000 after purchasing an additional 591 shares during 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.