Citigroup Inc. Reiterates Sell Rating for Microsoft (MSFT)

Microsoft Corporation with TICKER NASDAQ:MSFT has had its stock rating noted as “Reiterated” with the recommendation being set at “BUY” this morning by analysts at UBS. The firms issuing ratings range from the low of $38 to the high of $60. Like all other market analysts, Merrill Lynch thinks that the deferral in Windows 10 will have a huge impact on the short as well as intermediate future. Analysts at FBR & Co. reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday. Analysts at Pacific Crest reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $55.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Friday, July 3rd. Out of 43 analysts who cover the stock, 22 suggest a Buy, while 14 indicate a Hold. The stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $49.58.

Shares of Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC) ended Thursday session in red amid volatile trading. With the volume soaring to 23,033,961 shares, the last trade was called at $44.39. The 1 year high stock price is 50.04 United States dollars while the 52 week low for the share price is 40.12 United States dollars. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $45.89 and its 200-day moving average is $44.74.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The shares closed down 0.57 points or 1.93% at $28.93 with 47,167,803 shares getting traded. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.5% on a year-over-year basis. Now the company Insiders own 2.9% of Microsoft Corporation Company shares. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 20th will be given a dividend of $0.31 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 18th.

This action comes as Microsoft said yesterday that it will eliminate up to 7,800 jobs mostly in its phone unit as it looks to restructure its phone hardware business that has been struggling, the New York Times reports. Gates III sold 4,000,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 19th. The total amount of the transaction was worth $190,720,000, according to the disclosed information with the Securities and Exchange Commission in a Form 4 filing. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Maria Klawe sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 15th. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. It also designs and sells hardware, including the Xbox 360 gaming and entertainment console. The Company operates in five segments: Windows & Windows Live Division (Windows Division), Server and Tools, Online Services Division (OSD), Microsoft Business Division (MBD), and Entertainment and Devices Division (EDD). It also offers cloud-based solutions that provide customers with software, services and content over the Internet by way of shared computing resources located in centralized data centers.