Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Trading 0% Higher – Time to Buy?

Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)’s share price traded up 0% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $428.03 and last traded at $425.35. 6,189,491 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 70% from the average session volume of 20,374,406 shares. The stock had previously closed at $425.20.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have weighed in on the stock. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $470.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, October 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price target on Microsoft from $515.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Oppenheimer lowered Microsoft from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. KeyCorp raised their price target on shares of Microsoft from $490.00 to $505.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, TD Cowen dropped their price objective on Microsoft from $495.00 to $475.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 31st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and twenty-six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $503.03.

Microsoft Price Performance

The business has a fifty day moving average of $422.34 and a two-hundred day moving average of $425.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a current ratio of 1.30. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.09 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 0.91.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.10 by $0.20. The company had revenue of $65.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $64.57 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 34.56% and a net margin of 35.61%. The business’s revenue was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.99 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 12.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be paid a $0.83 dividend. This is a boost from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.80%. Microsoft’s payout ratio is 27.39%.

Microsoft declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback program on Monday, September 16th that authorizes the company to repurchase $60.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the software giant to buy up to 1.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Christopher David Young sold 7,200 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $423.66, for a total transaction of $3,050,352.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 103,366 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $43,792,039.56. The trade was a 6.51 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $411.04, for a total transaction of $1,027,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer now owns 50,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,552,000. This trade represents a 4.76 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 197,829 shares of company stock worth $80,966,837 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Microsoft

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 0.5% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 667,987,038 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $281,035,506,000 after buying an additional 3,078,099 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Microsoft by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 165,024,812 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $70,790,682,000 after buying an additional 3,264,648 shares during the period. Capital International Investors grew its stake in Microsoft by 1.0% in the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 83,571,070 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $35,160,020,000 after acquiring an additional 842,884 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 4.1% during the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 54,590,791 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $23,490,417,000 after buying an additional 2,125,030 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 47,229,125 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $20,322,513,000 after acquiring an additional 652,493 shares during the last quarter. 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.