Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Trading Down 3.2% – Here’s What Happened

Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) fell 3.2% during trading on Monday . The company traded as low as $367.07 and last traded at $367.34. Approximately 43,997,329 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 22% from the average session volume of 36,136,215 shares. The stock had previously closed at $379.40.

Microsoft News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft announced a 20-year power agreement with Chevron to support a massive West Texas AI data center, reinforcing that demand for Microsoft’s cloud and AI infrastructure remains strong and long-term capital investment is still accelerating. Reuters article on Chevron signs power supply deal with Microsoft for Texas data center
• Positive Sentiment: Satya Nadella’s comments about broadening AI access, lowering costs, and focusing on trust suggest Microsoft is positioning itself to compete more aggressively in AI and avoid being boxed in by a few expensive frontier models. Yahoo Finance article on Microsoft CEO calls for broader AI access
• Neutral Sentiment: Several commentary pieces continued to argue Microsoft remains a high-quality long-term AI beneficiary, with analysts and market commentators emphasizing solid growth and potential upside despite the stock’s recent weakness. Motley Fool article on whether Microsoft stock can double money
• Negative Sentiment: Microsoft is facing multiple shareholder class-action headlines related to alleged securities fraud and Copilot-related disclosures, which can weigh on sentiment even if the legal impact is still uncertain. GlobeNewswire article on Microsoft investor class action
• Negative Sentiment: Investors are also focused on concerns that AI competition, especially lower-cost Chinese models and broader industry price pressure, could intensify and challenge Microsoft’s monetization strategy over time. New York Post article on cheap Chinese AI models gaining customers

Analyst Ratings Changes

MSFT has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Phillip Securities raised shares of Microsoft to a “buy” rating and set a $485.00 price objective for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 13th. Citizens Jmp started coverage on shares of Microsoft in a report on Monday, June 1st. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $550.00 target price on the stock. China Renaissance dropped their target price on shares of Microsoft from $630.00 to $550.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $502.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, June 4th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Forty-one equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $561.20.

Microsoft Stock Down 3.2%

The company has a current ratio of 1.28, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.73 trillion, a P/E ratio of 21.87, a P/E/G ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 1.11. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $412.37 and a 200 day moving average price of $425.15.

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

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 20th will be given a $0.91 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 20th. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.0%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 21.67%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other news, CEO Judson Althoff sold 15,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $460.99, for a total value of $7,145,345.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 110,477 shares in the company, valued at approximately $50,928,792.23. This trade represents a 12.30% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,500 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $402.84, for a total transaction of $1,812,780.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 47,468 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,122,009.12. This represents a 8.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 23,762 shares of company stock worth $10,508,361 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of MSFT. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $50,664,631,000. Auto Owners Insurance Co grew its stake in Microsoft by 56,160.8% in the fourth quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co now owns 60,116,384 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $29,073,486,000 after purchasing an additional 60,009,531 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in Microsoft in the first quarter worth approximately $18,733,827,000. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC increased its holdings in Microsoft by 500.0% during the 3rd quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 59,543,261 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $30,840,432,000 after purchasing an additional 49,618,571 shares during the period. Finally, Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in Microsoft by 49,640.3% during the 2nd quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 29,967,038 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $14,905,904,000 after purchasing an additional 29,906,791 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

About Microsoft

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).