Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Up 1.4% After Dividend Announcement

Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)’s stock price rose 1.4% on Tuesday following a dividend announcement from the company. The stock traded as high as $384.42 and last traded at $385.54. Approximately 7,673,573 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 67% from the average daily volume of 22,951,582 shares. The stock had previously closed at $380.16.

The newly announced dividend which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.88%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is presently 26.73%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on MSFT shares. Guggenheim restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Friday, January 24th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $509.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $550.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, DA Davidson raised shares of Microsoft from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $425.00 to $450.00 in a research report on Thursday. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $510.43.

Microsoft Stock Down 1.2 %

The company has a quick ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.82 trillion, a P/E ratio of 30.50, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.92. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $413.92 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $421.06.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The software giant reported $3.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.15 by $0.08. Microsoft had a return on equity of 33.36% and a net margin of 35.43%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.93 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Microsoft

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 684,071,705 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $288,336,224,000 after acquiring an additional 10,431,988 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Microsoft by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 168,128,024 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $70,720,874,000 after purchasing an additional 3,103,212 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth approximately $44,343,058,000. Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 16.1% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 83,787,746 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $35,316,535,000 after purchasing an additional 11,600,470 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 9.8% in the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 59,961,337 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $25,273,704,000 after purchasing an additional 5,370,546 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.