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

Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)’s share price traded down 1.2% during trading on Monday . The stock traded as low as $408.56 and last traded at $411.74. 31,053,844 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 13% from the average session volume of 35,810,051 shares. The stock had previously closed at $416.67.

Microsoft News Roundup

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have commented on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price objective on Microsoft from $575.00 to $550.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Monday, March 9th. Melius Research set a $430.00 price objective on Microsoft in a research report on Monday, February 9th. Robert W. Baird lowered their price objective on Microsoft from $540.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 15th. Finally, Dbs Bank lowered their price objective on Microsoft from $678.00 to $573.00 in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Forty-one investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $561.20.

Microsoft Price Performance

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

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The software giant reported $4.27 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.06 by $0.21. Microsoft had a return on equity of 31.94% and a net margin of 39.34%.The company had revenue of $82.89 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $81.44 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $3.46 EPS. Microsoft’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that Microsoft Corporation will post 16.76 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

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

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, CEO Judson Althoff sold 15,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $460.99, for a total transaction of $7,145,345.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 110,477 shares in the company, valued at $50,928,792.23. The trade was a 12.30% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Amy Coleman sold 1,262 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $411.34, for a total value of $519,111.08. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 46,003 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,922,874.02. This represents a 2.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in MSFT. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 51.3% in the 2nd quarter. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC now owns 59 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Bernzott Capital Advisors purchased a new position in Microsoft in the 4th quarter worth approximately $34,000. Timmons Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Microsoft in the 4th quarter worth approximately $36,000. Fairway Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 287.0% in the 4th quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC now owns 89 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sellwood Investment Partners LLC purchased a new position in Microsoft in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $49,000. 71.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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).