Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Stock Price Down 0% After Analyst Downgrade

Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)’s stock price was down 0% during mid-day trading on Thursday 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 $368.63 and last traded at $371.59. Approximately 5,644,752 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 73% from the average daily volume of 21,197,917 shares. The stock had previously closed at $371.61.

Several other brokerages have also recently issued reports on MSFT. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $475.00 target price (down from $500.00) on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Monday, April 7th. DA Davidson upgraded Microsoft from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $425.00 to $450.00 in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Microsoft from $515.00 to $500.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. Scotiabank initiated coverage on Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. They issued a “sector outperform” rating and a $470.00 price target for the company. Finally, Bank of America cut their price objective on Microsoft from $510.00 to $480.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $499.97.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Microsoft

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Kaydan Wealth Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 6.1% in the 1st quarter. Kaydan Wealth Management Inc. now owns 5,228 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,963,000 after buying an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Advisors LLC grew its stake in Microsoft by 0.3% during the 1st quarter. Strategic Advisors LLC now owns 67,752 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $25,433,000 after buying an additional 229 shares during the last quarter. RS Crum Inc. increased its position in Microsoft by 5.4% during the 1st quarter. RS Crum Inc. now owns 5,350 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $2,008,000 after buying an additional 273 shares in the last quarter. Inscription Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Microsoft in the first quarter worth about $18,119,000. Finally, Blackston Financial Advisory Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 12.2% during the first quarter. Blackston Financial Advisory Group LLC now owns 12,630 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $4,741,000 after acquiring an additional 1,375 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Stock Down 1.0 %

The stock has a market capitalization of $2.73 trillion, a PE ratio of 29.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The company’s 50-day moving average is $389.13 and its 200 day moving average is $413.21.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its 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 return on equity of 33.36% and a net margin of 35.43%. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.93 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be paid a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.90%. Microsoft’s payout ratio is currently 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.