Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Trading Down 0.2% – Time to Sell?

Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) dropped 0.2% on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $392.18 and last traded at $394.32. Approximately 4,015,242 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 79% from the average daily volume of 19,257,970 shares. The stock had previously closed at $395.16.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently commented on MSFT. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $500.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $550.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of Microsoft from $525.00 to $510.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Scotiabank assumed coverage on Microsoft in a report on Thursday, March 20th. They set a “sector outperform” rating and a $470.00 price target for the company. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on Microsoft from $515.00 to $475.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $510.59.

Microsoft Stock Down 0.7 %

The firm has a market cap of $2.88 trillion, a PE ratio of 31.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $406.52 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $419.25.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The software giant reported $3.23 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.15 by $0.08. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.43% and a return on equity of 33.36%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.93 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.86%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is 26.73%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Microsoft

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MSFT. Milestone Asset Management Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth about $3,031,000. Avant Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Microsoft in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,629,000. Fire Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Microsoft in the 4th quarter worth $5,270,000. Fulcrum Equity Management lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 17.3% during the 4th quarter. Fulcrum Equity Management now owns 1,942 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $819,000 after acquiring an additional 286 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mascagni Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Microsoft during the fourth quarter valued at about $3,548,000. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.