Tech Winners & Losers: Microsoft

Tech stocks swung back into negative territory on Monday, offsetting gains from last week's rally when the federal government proposed a huge bailout of troubled banks and the Securities and Exchange Commission placed a temporary ban on short-selling.

The Nasdaq was down 2.6% to 2214 in afternoon trading.

Microsoft(MSFT) came out a winner despite the turmoil, with the stock jumping 2.9% to $25.88 after the company announced a $40 billion share repurchase program that will run through Sept. 30, 2013.

The new plan comes as Microsoft completes a previous $40 billion program. The software giant's board also increased its quarterly dividend to 13 cents a share from 11 cents.

The stock got an additional bump after Standard & Poor's and Moody's Investors Service issued favorable debt ratings for the software giant.

Moody's assigned a senior unsecured debt rating of AAA and a short term rating for commercial paper of Prime-1 to Microsoft, while S&P assigned a AAA corporate credit rating and a short term rating for commercial paper of A-1+.

NetApp(NTAP) shares tumbled 8.4% to $19.35 after Wachovia downgraded it to market perform from outperform. The firm noted that the company's revenue growth is slowing and it may not reach its 16% operating margin as soon as expected.

Shares of Garmin(GRMN) also dipped on Monday after Merrill Lynch resumed coverage on the company, rating it underperform and estimating a price target of $36. The firm pointed to continuing pressure on price and margins, and delays on its Nuvi smartphone.