Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Sees Significant Decrease in Short Interest

by · The Cerbat Gem

Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT – Get Free Report) was the recipient of a significant decline in short interest in the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 50,170,000 shares, a decline of 21.9% from the March 15th total of 64,260,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 24,670,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.0 days. Currently, 0.7% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MSFT has been the topic of several recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $515.00 to $500.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 14th. KeyCorp reaffirmed a “sector weight” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday. StockNews.com lowered shares of Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $500.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $520.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Microsoft presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $497.63.

View Our Latest Stock Analysis on MSFT

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Newton One Investments LLC boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 66.7% in the 1st quarter. Newton One Investments LLC now owns 75 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Ball & Co Wealth Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Microsoft during the 4th quarter valued at $38,000. IFS Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 53.8% during the 4th quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 100 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Finally, LSV Asset Management purchased a new stake in Microsoft in the fourth quarter worth about $44,000. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of MSFT traded down $8.66 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $359.12. The company had a trading volume of 20,766,151 shares, compared to its average volume of 21,244,655. 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 has a 1-year low of $344.79 and a 1-year high of $468.35. The company has a market capitalization of $2.67 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.91, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.00. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $388.25 and its 200 day simple moving average is $412.70.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT – Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The software giant reported $3.23 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.93 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Microsoft will post 13.08 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 15th will be given a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.92%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. Microsoft’s payout ratio is currently 26.73%.

About Microsoft

(Get Free Report)

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.

Featured Stories