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

Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)’s share price dropped 0.5% 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.

A number of other equities analysts also recently commented on MSFT. Truist Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $600.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Monday, March 25th. Raymond James boosted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $400.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $465.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 1st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $455.00 to $465.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 12th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Microsoft presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $432.13.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,955 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $403.96, for a total transaction of $8,868,941.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 159,764 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $64,538,265.44. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Microsoft news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 45,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $411.78, for a total value of $18,530,100.00. Following the completion of 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 filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,955 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $403.96, for a total transaction of $8,868,941.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 159,764 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $64,538,265.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 1,070,258 shares of company stock valued at $30,690,456 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MSFT. DGS Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Microsoft by 19.9% in the first quarter. DGS Capital Management LLC now owns 14,342 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $4,422,000 after buying an additional 2,383 shares in the last quarter. IFM Investors Pty Ltd increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 20.8% during the 1st quarter. IFM Investors Pty Ltd now owns 1,138,469 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $351,001,000 after purchasing an additional 196,338 shares in the last quarter. Altus Wealth Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 1.2% during the 1st quarter. Altus Wealth Group LLC now owns 12,712 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $3,919,000 after purchasing an additional 152 shares in the last quarter. Powell Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 16.2% during the 1st quarter. Powell Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,578 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $795,000 after purchasing an additional 359 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Onyx Bridge Wealth Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 8.2% during the 1st quarter. Onyx Bridge Wealth Group LLC now owns 6,782 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,921,000 after purchasing an additional 512 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Microsoft Stock Performance

The company has a current ratio of 1.22, a quick ratio of 1.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $414.86 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $385.33. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.97 trillion, a PE ratio of 36.09, a PEG ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 0.89.

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

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 16th will be given a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend 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 (DPR) is currently 27.12%.

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.