Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Down 2.8% After Analyst Downgrade

Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) was down 2.8% on Monday after Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price target on the stock from $550.00 to $500.00. Jefferies Financial Group currently has a buy rating on the stock. Microsoft traded as low as $367.38 and last traded at $368.11. Approximately 7,444,809 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 64% from the average daily volume of 20,476,308 shares. The stock had previously closed at $378.80.

Several other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of Microsoft from $540.00 to $530.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Guggenheim reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday, January 24th. StockNews.com lowered Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. UBS Group reduced their price target on Microsoft from $525.00 to $510.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and set a $550.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Microsoft presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $508.86.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Microsoft

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Net Worth Advisory Group purchased a new stake in Microsoft during the third quarter valued at approximately $2,645,000. Adamsbrown Wealth Consultants LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. Adamsbrown Wealth Consultants LLC now owns 5,967 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $2,515,000 after purchasing an additional 130 shares during the last quarter. Oak Ridge Investments LLC boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 7.6% in the 3rd quarter. Oak Ridge Investments LLC now owns 263,534 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $113,399,000 after purchasing an additional 18,544 shares in the last quarter. Focus Financial Network Inc. grew its stake in Microsoft by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. Focus Financial Network Inc. now owns 76,296 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $32,830,000 after buying an additional 1,489 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Campbell Wealth Management acquired a new position in Microsoft during the 3rd quarter valued at about $3,314,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Stock Performance

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 company has a market capitalization of $2.84 trillion, a PE ratio of 30.77, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.92. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $403.52 and a 200 day simple moving average of $418.45.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The software giant reported $3.23 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 period last year, the company posted $2.93 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be issued a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.87%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is presently 26.73%.

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.