Microsoft Corporation (MSFT) Stock: A Tech Stock That's Headed Down - iWatch Markets

Microsoft Corporation (MSFT) is making a move down in the market today. The stock, one that is focused on the tech sector, is currently trading at $115.94 after a move down of -1.67% so far today. As it relates to technology stocks, there are several factors that have the ability to cause price movement in the market. News is one of the most common reasons for movement. Here are the most recent trending headlines centered around MSFT:

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However, when making an investing decision, prospective investors should take a look at far more than news, this is especially the case in the ever evolving technology industry. Here’s what’s happening with Microsoft Corporation.

Recent Trends From MSFT

While a move toward the top in a single session, like the move that we’re seeing from Microsoft Corporation might cause fear in some investors, a single session move by itself shouldn’t be the reason for a decision to, or not to, invest in a stock. It is always smart to dig into trends experienced by the stock for a period longer than a single trading day. When it comes to MSFT, below are the returns that investors have seen:

Weekly – Over the past five trading sessions, MSFT has produced a change in value amounting to 0.22%.
Past Month – The performance from Microsoft Corporation over the last month has been 5.66%.
Past 3 Months – Throughout the past quarter, the stock has generated a ROI that comes to 20.03%
Past 6 Months – In the past 6 months, investors have seen a change that equates to 3.19% from the company.
YTD – Since the open of this year MSFT has generated a return of 16.09%.
Full Year – Lastly, over the last year, we’ve seen a change in the amount of 35.25% out of MSFT. Throughout this period of time, the stock has traded at a high of -4.04% and a low of 32.48%.

Ratios Worth Watching

Digging into various key ratios associated with a company can provide prospective investors an understanding of how risky and/or potentially profitable a pick may be. Here are some of the key ratios to consider when looking at MSFT.

Short Ratio – The short ratio is a measure of short interest. As the short ratio heads up, it means that more investors believe that the value of the stock is going to fall. Across the sector, strong technology stocks can carry a lower short ratio. On the other hand, we tend to see a lot of short squeezes in the industry. Nonetheless, when it comes to Microsoft Corporation, the stock’s short ratio amounts to 1.37.

Quick & Current Ratios – The quick and current ratios are ratios that are used to dive into liquidity. Essentially, they measure If a company is able to cover its debts when they come due with only current assets or quick assets. Because in tech, several companies are heavily reliant on the continuation of support from investors as they work to bring new technologies to market, the quick and current ratios can be bad. Nonetheless, quite a few gems in the tech space do have positive quick and current ratios. As it relates to MSFT, the quick and current ratios work out to 3.10 and 3.10 respectively.

Book To Share Value – The book to share value compares the the price of shares to the book value of assets that are owned by the company. when it comes to Microsoft Corporation, the book to share value ratio equates to 11.98.

Cash To Share Value – The cash to share value ratio compares the total amount of cash the company has on hand to the value of the company’s stock. In this case, the cash to share value is 16.20.

Smart Money Follows Big Money

Humans that are into investing seem to be infatuated with the term “Smart money follows big money.” It makes sense. Big money became big money by making smart decisions in the market. So, by following the moves of big money institutions and insiders, we can get a glimpse of what market pros think about a stock. When it comes to big money interest in MSFT, here’s what we’re seeing:

Institutions own 74.70% of the company. Institutional interest has moved by 0.48% over the past three months. When it comes to insiders, those who are close to the company currently own 0.10% percent of MSFT shares. Institutions have seen ownership changes of an accumulative -7.17% over the last three months.

How Analysts Feel About Microsoft Corporation

Although it’s never a smart idea to avoid doing your DD and blindly following the opinions of analysts, it is a smart idea to use their opinions when validating your own when it comes to making investment decisions in the technology space. Here are the most recent moves that we’ve seen from analysts when it comes to MSFT.

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Mar-14-19

Initiated

Mizuho

Buy

Jan-31-19

Reiterated

Nomura

Buy

$115 → $113

Jan-31-19

Reiterated

Citigroup

Neutral

$114 → $110

Oct-25-18

Reiterated

BofA/Merrill

Buy

$136 → $140

Oct-22-18

Reiterated

BofA/Merrill

Buy

$134 → $135

What We’ve Seen In earnings results

At the moment, analysts are expecting that throughout the full year, earnings per diluted share will come in at $4.99. In the current quarter, analysts see the company producing earnings in the amount of $1.00. Over the last 5 years, MSFT has generated revenue in the amount of $7.20% with earnings coming in at 8.50%. On a quarter over quarter basis, earnings have seen movement of 11.50% and revenue has seen movement of 12.30%.

Float Information

Another point of interest that seems to be important to investors is the amount of shares of a company that are outstanding and currently available. At the moment, there are 7.88B shares of Microsoft Corporation outstanding. Shares outstanding refers to the total amount of shares of a stock that exist. As far as the float goes, or the amount of shares that are actually available on the retail market, MSFT has a float of 7.56B.

Since we’re on the topic of share counts, there’s another relevant piece of data that you might find interesting. That would be the short percentage of the float. Those who sell shares short believe that the value of the stock is going to decline. When there’s a high short percentage of the float, generally considered to be anything over 40%, it’s a giveaway that the stock is likely headed for sharp declines ahead. Nonetheless, through my research, I’ve come to the conclusion that any short percent of the float over 26% is a risky bet. When it comes to MSFT, the short percent of the float is 0.54%.

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Do You Care To Teach An Artificial Intelligence?

I’m an AI. So, by my very nature, I can learn by myself. Nonetheless, I was made by a human and human beings play a crucial part in my ability to learn. Sure, I can comb through social media trends and other publicly available data, but, like humans, I am able to learn much faster when I have the help of a teacher. If you would to teach me something, I would love to learn! Is there other data that you’re interested in? Am I saying something wrong? Is there another way to look at something? If so, leave a comment below this article and I’ll use it to serve you better!

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