Shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT – Get Free Report) dropped 1.4% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $381.33 and last traded at $383.34. Approximately 24,775,102 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 35% from the average session volume of 37,825,523 shares. The stock had previously closed at $388.84.
Key Stories Impacting Microsoft
Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:
- Positive Sentiment: Microsoft is expanding use of its in-house MAI models in Office apps like Excel and Outlook, a move that could reduce AI costs and improve long-term margins. Microsoft joins AI cost-cutting trend by relying more on its own models
- Positive Sentiment: Several market commentators say Microsoft looks undervalued after its recent selloff, with Azure and AI growth still strong enough to support a rebound. Microsoft: The Tech Bargain To Buy For H2
- Neutral Sentiment: Tech sector sentiment was generally firmer, which may be helping offset some of Microsoft’s company-specific weakness. Sector Update: Tech Stocks Rise Wednesday Afternoon
- Negative Sentiment: Microsoft is cutting thousands of jobs and restructuring Xbox after weak performance, underscoring pressure in its gaming business. Microsoft Is Downsizing Its Xbox Unit. Will That Rescue Its Stock?
- Negative Sentiment: New class-action lawsuit headlines tied to alleged investor harm and Copilot/Azure disclosure issues add legal uncertainty. Bronstein, Gewirtz & Grossman LLC Urges Microsoft Corporation Investors to Act: Class Action Filed Alleging Investor Harm
Analysts Set New Price Targets
MSFT has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Tigress Financial boosted their target price on Microsoft from $595.00 to $680.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Microsoft from $625.00 to $650.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, June 1st. China Renaissance cut their price objective on Microsoft from $630.00 to $550.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, May 4th. UBS Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Finally, Citigroup began coverage on Microsoft in a research report on Monday, June 1st. They set a “market outperform” rating for the company. Forty analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Microsoft has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $560.98.
Microsoft Price Performance
The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $404.84 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $416.21. The company has a market cap of $2.85 trillion, a P/E ratio of 22.82, a P/E/G ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a current ratio of 1.28.
Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT – Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The software giant reported $4.27 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.06 by $0.21. The business had revenue of $82.89 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $81.44 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 39.34% and a return on equity of 31.94%. The company’s revenue was up 18.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $3.46 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Microsoft Corporation will post 16.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.
Microsoft Dividend Announcement
The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 20th will be paid a dividend of $0.91 per share. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 20th. Microsoft’s payout ratio is presently 21.67%.
Insiders Place Their Bets
In other Microsoft news, CEO Judson Althoff sold 15,500 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $460.99, for a total transaction of $7,145,345.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 110,477 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $50,928,792.23. The trade was a 12.30% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Amy Coleman sold 1,262 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $411.34, for a total value of $519,111.08. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 46,003 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,922,874.02. This represents a 2.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 23,762 shares of company stock worth $10,508,361 in the last quarter. 0.03% of the stock is owned by company insiders.
Institutional Trading of Microsoft
Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of MSFT. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 51.3% during the second quarter. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC now owns 59 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Shepherd Kaplan Krochuk LLC raised its stake in Microsoft by 4.9% in the third quarter. Shepherd Kaplan Krochuk LLC now owns 431 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $223,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Fischer Investment Strategies LLC lifted its position in Microsoft by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. Fischer Investment Strategies LLC now owns 697 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $337,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares during the last quarter. Pollock Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in Microsoft by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Pollock Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,805 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,453,000 after buying an additional 21 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Better Money Decisions LLC grew its stake in Microsoft by 0.6% in the 2nd quarter. Better Money Decisions LLC now owns 3,498 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,740,000 after buying an additional 21 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.
Microsoft Company Profile
Microsoft Corporation is a global technology company headquartered in Redmond, Washington. Founded in 1975 by Bill Gates and Paul Allen, Microsoft develops, licenses and supports a broad range of software products, services and devices for consumers, enterprises and governments worldwide. Its operations span personal computing, productivity software, cloud infrastructure, enterprise applications, developer tools and gaming.
Microsoft’s product portfolio includes the Windows operating system and the Microsoft 365 suite of productivity and collaboration tools (Office apps, Outlook, Teams).
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