Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Stock Price Down 0.5% Following Analyst Downgrade

Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)’s stock price was down 0.5% during trading on Friday after Citigroup lowered their price target on the stock from $480.00 to $475.00. Citigroup currently has a buy rating on the stock. Microsoft traded as low as $399.39 and last traded at $402.29. Approximately 10,078,228 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 54% from the average daily volume of 21,683,816 shares. The stock had previously closed at $404.27.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. Macquarie increased their price objective on Microsoft from $430.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Microsoft from $460.00 to $480.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Raymond James boosted their target price on Microsoft from $400.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. BNP Paribas raised shares of Microsoft from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $471.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 18th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $465.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 1st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $432.13.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Microsoft news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 45,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $411.78, for a total transaction of $18,530,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 574,129 shares in the company, valued at approximately $236,414,839.62. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other Microsoft news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 45,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $411.78, for a total value of $18,530,100.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 574,129 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $236,414,839.62. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 3,303 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $406.12, for a total transaction of $1,341,414.36. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 570,826 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $231,823,855.12. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 1,070,258 shares of company stock worth $30,690,456. 0.03% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MSFT. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 2.5% in the first quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 223,671 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $94,103,000 after buying an additional 5,456 shares during the period. Evolution Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in Microsoft by 3.3% during the 1st quarter. Evolution Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 8,912 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $3,750,000 after acquiring an additional 281 shares during the period. WFA Asset Management Corp lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 27.0% during the first quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 1,016 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $427,000 after purchasing an additional 216 shares in the last quarter. Tradewinds Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 20.8% in the first quarter. Tradewinds Capital Management LLC now owns 19,638 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $8,262,000 after purchasing an additional 3,386 shares during the period. Finally, Sloy Dahl & Holst LLC boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.3% in the first quarter. Sloy Dahl & Holst LLC now owns 13,007 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $5,472,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Microsoft Trading Down 0.7 %

The company has a quick ratio of 1.20, a current ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $415.29 and its 200-day moving average price is $384.29. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.98 trillion, a PE ratio of 36.37, a PEG ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.89.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 30th. The software giant reported $2.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.76 by $0.17. Microsoft had a return on equity of 38.40% and a net margin of 36.27%. The business had revenue of $62.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $61.14 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.32 EPS. Microsoft’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 11.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 16th will be issued a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 15th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.75%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is presently 27.12%.

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.