Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Stock Price Down 0.1% - Time to Sell?

On Thursday, shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) saw a slight decline, falling by 0.1%. During the day, the stock hit a low of $397.93 and ultimately concluded trading at $399.22. A total of approximately 5,857,542 shares were exchanged, marking a significant drop of 74% from the average daily volume of 22,273,707 shares. This uptrend had previously closed at $399.73.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Recent reports from several analysts have influenced the current market outlook for Microsoft. Wedbush maintained an "outperform" rating and introduced a target price of $550.00 for the stock in a research note dated November 19th. Piper Sandler echoed this sentiment with an "overweight" rating along with a target of $520.00 as noted in a report released on January 27th. Similarly, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating with a target price of $500.00 on January 30th. DA Davidson took a different stance with a "neutral" rating, setting a target at $425.00 on the same date. Cantor Fitzgerald also restated an "overweight" rating, issuing a price goal of $509.00 on January 29th. Additionally, out of the analysts covering Microsoft, four have issued hold ratings while an impressive twenty-six have recognized the stock with buy ratings. As per MarketBeat, the average rating sits at "Moderate Buy" with a consensus target price around $510.96.

Microsoft Price Performance

Examining the recent performance, Microsoft has a fifty-day simple moving average of $420.68 and a two-hundred-day simple moving average of $422.62. The company has a substantial market capitalization of $2.95 trillion and maintains a price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of 31.97, along with a price-to-earnings growth (P/E/G) ratio of 2.21, and a beta value of 0.90. The company’s debt-to-equity ratio is a modest 0.13, while both the quick ratio and current ratio are at 1.34 and 1.35, respectively.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

Microsoft has recently announced a quarterly dividend set to be paid on March 13th. Shareholders listed on record as of February 20th will receive a dividend of $0.83 per share, leading to an annualized yield of $3.32 or 0.84%. The ex-dividend date also falls on February 20th. Currently, Microsoft's dividend payout ratio is approximately 26.73%.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In related insider news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares on December 2nd, at an average price of $430.87, accumulating a total of $1,077,175. After this sale, Numoto retained 53,852 shares valued at around $23,203,211. This transaction reflected a 4.44% decrease in their holdings. In the last quarter, insiders sold a total of 7,000 shares collectively worth approximately $3,070,340, with insiders owning about 0.03% of the firm’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Numerous institutional investors have recalibrated their positions regarding Microsoft. For instance, Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake by 1.5% in the fourth quarter, amassing 684,071,705 shares worth $288,336,224,000 after an acquisition of an additional 10,431,988 shares. Geode Capital Management LLC also raised its ownership by 1.9%, owning now about 168,128,024 shares valued at $70,720,874,000 by obtaining an extra 3,103,212 shares in the same period. Norges Bank entered the scene as a new purchaser of Microsoft stock, investing roughly $44,343,058,000 in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake substantially by 16.1%, securing 83,787,746 shares worth about $35,316,535,000 after acquiring an extra 11,600,470 shares. Additionally, UBS AM's division raised its position by 9.8%, resulting in ownership of 59,961,337 shares valued at $25,273,704,000. Overall, institutional investors currently hold 71.13% of Microsoft.Microsoft, Stocks, Analysis