Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Down 1.7% After Analyst Downgrade

Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)’s share price traded down 1.7% on Wednesday after Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on the stock from $530.00 to $472.00. Morgan Stanley currently has an overweight rating on the stock. Microsoft traded as low as $375.90 and last traded at $379.04. 4,305,116 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 80% from the average session volume of 21,165,243 shares. The stock had previously closed at $385.73.

A number of other brokerages also recently weighed in on MSFT. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $500.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Loop Capital lifted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. Scotiabank began coverage on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. They set a “sector outperform” rating and a $470.00 target price on the stock. Westpark Capital initiated coverage on shares of Microsoft in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. Finally, UBS Group reduced their target price on Microsoft from $510.00 to $480.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $499.97.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Microsoft

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in MSFT. Ball & Co Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Microsoft during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Microsoft during the fourth quarter valued at $38,000. IFS Advisors LLC increased its position in Microsoft by 53.8% in the fourth quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 100 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. LSV Asset Management bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at $44,000. Finally, Avondale Wealth Management lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 144.4% during the 4th quarter. Avondale Wealth Management now owns 110 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $46,000 after buying an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Microsoft Price Performance

The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $389.13 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $413.21. The company has a market cap of $2.73 trillion, a P/E ratio of 29.61, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a current ratio of 1.35.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The software giant reported $3.23 earnings per share (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 earned $2.93 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be given a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.90%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.73%.

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.