Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) has opened bearishly below the pivot of $29.53 today and has reached the first level of support at $29.37. Should the shares continue to fall, the support pivots of $29.23 and $28.93 will be of interest.

There is potential upside of 7.2% for shares of Microsoft based on a current price of $29.25 and an average consensus analyst price target of $31.36. The stock should discover initial support at its 50-day moving average (MA) of $26.52 and subsequent support at its 200-day MA of $25.96.

Microsoft share prices have moved between a 52-week high of $29.95 and a 52-week low of $23.65 and are now trading 24% above that low price at $29.25 per share. The 200-day and 50-day moving averages have moved 0.27% higher and 0.88% higher over the past week, respectively.

SmarTrend recommended that subscribers consider buying shares of Microsoft on December 27th, 2011 as our proprietary SmarTrend analytics indicated a new Uptrend was in progress when shares hit $26.03. Since that recommendation, shares of Microsoft have risen 13.3%. We continue to monitor MSFT for any potential shift so investors can protect gains and will alert SmarTrend subscribers immediately.