Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Trading Down 1.2% – Time to Sell?

Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) fell 1.2% during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as low as $408.56 and last traded at $411.74. 31,053,844 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 13% from the average session volume of 35,810,051 shares. The stock had previously closed at $416.67.

Trending Headlines about Microsoft

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: NHS England announced it will roll out Microsoft 365 Copilot to 505,000 clinicians and support staff, Microsoft’s largest healthcare deployment yet. The deal could strengthen Microsoft’s AI and cloud revenues while showcasing real-world productivity gains. Article link
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft also signaled bigger ambitions in AI, with AI chief Mustafa Suleyman saying the company aims to become one of the top four AI labs globally. Investors may view that as evidence Microsoft is investing aggressively to deepen its AI moat. Article link
• Positive Sentiment: Citi reportedly reiterated a Buy rating and a $620 price target, arguing that Microsoft’s AI ecosystem momentum and progress toward greater AI independence remain supportive of the long-term outlook. Article link
• Neutral Sentiment: Microsoft unveiled its Majorana 2 quantum chip, which was presented as a step toward scalable quantum computing. The announcement adds to Microsoft’s innovation narrative, but it is still an early-stage, long-dated opportunity rather than an immediate earnings driver. Article link
• Neutral Sentiment: Reid Hoffman is exiting Microsoft’s board after a decade, a governance change that appears routine and not tied to a dispute, so it is unlikely to materially affect the stock on its own. Article link
• Negative Sentiment: Several articles point to Microsoft’s recent weakness being tied to investor concern that AI spending and the company’s relationship with OpenAI may not translate into near-term returns. That narrative is helping explain why the stock has been slipping despite positive announcements. Article link
• Negative Sentiment: David Tepper reportedly sold most of Appaloosa’s Microsoft stake, adding to the recent negative sentiment from high-profile investors reducing exposure to the name. Article link

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently issued reports on MSFT. Dbs Bank cut their target price on Microsoft from $678.00 to $573.00 in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. DZ Bank reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Citizens Jmp started coverage on Microsoft in a research report on Monday, June 1st. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $550.00 target price on the stock. Truist Financial cut their price target on Microsoft from $675.00 to $575.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Arete Research increased their price target on Microsoft from $730.00 to $870.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 5th. Forty-one analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $561.20.

Microsoft Price Performance

The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $407.63 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $431.54. The company has a market capitalization of $3.06 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.51, a P/E/G ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a current ratio of 1.28, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The software giant reported $4.27 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.06 by $0.21. The company had revenue of $82.89 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $81.44 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 31.94% and a net margin of 39.34%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $3.46 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Microsoft Corporation will post 16.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 21st will be given a dividend of $0.91 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 21st. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.9%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 21.67%.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In other news, EVP Amy Coleman sold 1,262 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $411.34, for a total transaction of $519,111.08. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 46,003 shares in the company, valued at $18,922,874.02. This trade represents a 2.67% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Judson Althoff sold 15,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $460.99, for a total value of $7,145,345.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 110,477 shares in the company, valued at $50,928,792.23. This trade represents a 12.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 0.03% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Microsoft

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of MSFT. PMG Family Office LLC bought a new position in shares of Microsoft in the third quarter worth approximately $828,000. Trifecta Capital Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 2.3% in the third quarter. Trifecta Capital Advisors LLC now owns 70,175 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $36,347,000 after purchasing an additional 1,572 shares during the last quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 1.0% in the third quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. now owns 949,901 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $493,860,000 after purchasing an additional 9,700 shares during the last quarter. Werba Rubin Papier Wealth Management grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 15.7% in the fourth quarter. Werba Rubin Papier Wealth Management now owns 12,492 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $6,041,000 after purchasing an additional 1,698 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 2,332.1% in the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 6,746,017 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $3,262,509,000 after purchasing an additional 6,468,645 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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).