Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Down 1.3% – Here’s Why

Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) shares fell 1.3% during mid-day trading on Friday . The company traded as low as $468.27 and last traded at $472.12. 31,376,810 shares changed hands during trading, an increase of 42% from the average session volume of 22,093,561 shares. The stock had previously closed at $478.43.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently commented on MSFT. Wolfe Research set a $675.00 price target on shares of Microsoft and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 28th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Microsoft from $675.00 to $700.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $650.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. DA Davidson set a $650.00 price target on Microsoft in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price objective on Microsoft from $682.00 to $690.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-seven have given a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $634.33.

Microsoft Price Performance

The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The stock has a market cap of $3.51 trillion, a PE ratio of 33.59, a P/E/G ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.02. The company’s 50 day moving average is $513.64 and its 200-day moving average is $498.12.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The software giant reported $4.13 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.65 by $0.48. Microsoft had a return on equity of 33.47% and a net margin of 35.71%.The company had revenue of $77.67 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $75.49 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $3.30 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 18.4% on a year-over-year basis. Microsoft has set its Q2 2026 guidance at EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 20th will be paid a dividend of $0.91 per share. This is a boost from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 20th. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.8%. Microsoft’s payout ratio is 25.89%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 38,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $518.64, for a total value of $19,967,640.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 461,597 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $239,402,668.08. This represents a 7.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Satya Nadella sold 149,205 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $504.78, for a total transaction of $75,315,699.90. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 790,852 shares in the company, valued at $399,206,272.56. This trade represents a 15.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Microsoft

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Newton One Investments LLC lifted its stake in Microsoft by 66.7% during the first quarter. Newton One Investments LLC now owns 75 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC increased its stake in Microsoft by 51.3% during the second quarter. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC now owns 59 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Bulwark Capital Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the second quarter worth $32,000. Westend Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 386.7% in the 2nd quarter. Westend Capital Management LLC now owns 73 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bayforest Capital Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft in the 3rd quarter valued at about $38,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

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.