Short-Sellers Are Piling Onto Microsoft Corporation (MSFT) - KYMA News

Short sellers are betting against Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT). Looking at the sentiment indicator for the MSFT stock we see that the short-interest ratio is at 1.284945 while the average analyst recommendations at 1.6 suggests selling these shares. Between November 30 and December 14, the total number of shorted shares amounted to 53.08 million shares. That was 6.34% more than the total of 49.92 million shares in the space of prior two weeks, which means more traders or funds betting that the stock will go down. Average daily volume for Microsoft Corporation at the December 14th settlement jumped to 41,310,795, as compared to 35,420,435 at the November 30th report. That brought days to cover to a 8.82% decrease from the 1.409288 days to cover recorded at the prior short interest data release.

Microsoft Corporation (MSFT) will probably climb 23.02 percent over the next 12 months, according to price target estimates compiled by finviz. Meanwhile, they have set a $160price as 12-month high target. This represents a whopping 56.97 percent increase from where shares are trading today. The 12-month median price target assigned by the analysts stands at $125.2, which represents a return potential of 22.83 percent when compared to the closing price of the stock of $101.93 on Friday, January 04. The lowest price target for the stock is $75 — slightly more than -26.42 percent from MSFT’s current share price.

The stock is currently hovering around the first support level of $99.74. Below this, the next support is placed in the zone of $97.54. Till the time, the MSFT stock trades above this level, bulls have nothing to fear. On momentum oscillators front, ‘RSI’ has touched 47.84 on daily chart, which may remain a cause for concern. If the price breaks below $97.54 level on closing basis, then we may see more profit booking and the stock may show further weakness. On the flipside, hitting the $103.32 mark may result into a pull-back move towards $104.7 level.

On 4th of January, Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) shares ended higher after a volatile session. The shares accumulated 4.53 points or 4.65 percent at $101.93 with a heavy trade volume of 43.779 million shares. After opening the session at $99.72, the shares went as high as $102.51 and as low as $98.93, the range within which the stock’s price traded throughout the day. The firm is left with a market cap of $776 billion and now has 7.62 billion shares outstanding. Microsoft Corporation (MSFT) stock has lost -9.06 percent of market value in 21 trading days.

MSFT stock has a trailing 3-year beta of 1.27, offering the possibility of a higher rate of return, but also posing more risk. The portion of a company’s profit allocated to each outstanding share of common stock was $4.19 a share in the trailing twelve months. The stock’s value has surged 0.35 percent year to date (YTD) against a rise of 18.04 percent in 12 month’s time. The company’s shares still trade -12.27 percent away from its 1-year high of $116.18 and 21.59 percent up from 52-week low of $83.83. The average consensus rating on the company is 1.6, on a scale where 5 equates to a unanimous sell rating. In short, the mean analyst recommendations are calling this stock a buy.

Shares of Microsoft Corporation (MSFT) are trading at a P/E ratio of 28.06 times earnings reported for the past 12 months. The industry MSFT operates in has an average P/E of 34.47. Its P/E ratio went as low as 13.38X and as high as 29.89 over the 5-year span. Further, it is sporting a 6.76 on the Price-to-Sales ratio. Compare this with the industry average P/S of 5.47. 65.2 percent is the gross profit margin for Microsoft Corporation and operating margin sits at 32.4 percent. Along with this, the net profit margin is 16.4 percent.

Let’s take a look at some insider activity at Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) and see the pattern. The earliest insider trade took place on 12/10/2018. Capossela Christopher C parted with a total of 4 thousand shares of company at average share price of $105.5. The total for the sales was set at $422 thousand. After this transaction, the EVP, Chief Marketing Officer account balance stood at 166.33 thousand shares. The stock lost -3.38 percent since that insider sale. On 12/06/2018, Capossela Christopher C, EVP, Chief Marketing Officer, sold 4 thousand shares at a price per share of $108. This removed 432 thousand shares from the insider’s fortune and the stock saw a -5.62 percent retreat in value since the news became public. This transaction left 173.93 thousand shares in the EVP, Chief Marketing Officer account.

On 12/03/2018, EVP, Chief Marketing Officer Capossela Christopher C performed a sale transaction worth $1.12 million. This sale at $111.77 each has eliminated 10 thousand shares from the insider’s portfolio position. Meanwhile, shares have recorded -8.8 percent decrease since the transaction was reported. The insider now is left with 177.93 thousand shares remaining in the account. Hogan Kathleen T, who performs the EVP, Human Resources job, sold 36.5 thousand shares for $4.06 million. The disposal occurred on 11/08/2018 was priced at $111.28 per share. The share price plunged -8.4 percent since the reporting date. Hogan Kathleen T now left with a stake of 226.8 thousand MSFT stock worth $23.12 million after the insider selling.

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