Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Stock Price Down 2% – Time to Sell?

Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)’s stock price traded down 2% on Friday . The stock traded as low as $383.20 and last traded at $382.62. 3,718,191 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 81% from the average session volume of 19,252,358 shares. The stock had previously closed at $390.58.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $509.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. DA Davidson raised shares of Microsoft from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $425.00 to $450.00 in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $550.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $520.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-eight have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $510.59.

Microsoft Stock Down 3.0 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 1.34. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $406.52 and its 200 day moving average price is $419.25. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.82 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.92.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The software giant reported $3.23 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 business posted $2.93 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.88%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. Microsoft’s payout ratio is currently 26.73%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Microsoft

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Ball & Co Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in Microsoft in the fourth quarter worth $31,000. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth approximately $38,000. IFS Advisors LLC boosted its position in Microsoft by 53.8% during the fourth quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 100 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares during the period. LSV Asset Management acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth approximately $44,000. Finally, Avondale Wealth Management boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 144.4% in the 4th quarter. Avondale Wealth Management now owns 110 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.