Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Insider Sells $1,672,781.84 in Stock

Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) insider Bradford Smith sold 3,812 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on Monday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $438.82, for a total transaction of $1,672,781.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 451,597 shares in the company, valued at approximately $198,169,795.54. The trade was a 0.84% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

Microsoft Stock Down 1.0%

Shares of NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $478.53 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.56 trillion, a P/E ratio of 34.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 1.07. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $504.05 and its 200-day moving average price is $502.65. The company has a current ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. Microsoft Corporation has a 12-month low of $344.79 and a 12-month high of $555.45.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The software giant reported $4.13 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.65 by $0.48. Microsoft had a return on equity of 32.45% and a net margin of 35.71%.The company had revenue of $77.67 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $75.49 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.30 EPS. Microsoft’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 19th will be issued a $0.91 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 19th. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.8%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 25.89%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MSFT has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Raymond James Financial lowered their price target on shares of Microsoft from $630.00 to $600.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $650.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Cantor Fitzgerald set a $639.00 price target on Microsoft in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Robert W. Baird started coverage on Microsoft in a research report on Friday, November 14th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $600.00 price target for the company. Finally, KeyCorp reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-seven have assigned a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $632.34.

Institutional Trading of Microsoft

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 51.3% in the second quarter. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC now owns 59 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Bulwark Capital Corp bought a new position in Microsoft in the 2nd quarter worth about $32,000. Westend Capital Management LLC grew its position in Microsoft by 386.7% during the 2nd quarter. Westend Capital Management LLC now owns 73 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. Bayforest Capital Ltd bought a new stake in Microsoft during the 3rd quarter valued at about $38,000. Finally, LSV Asset Management purchased a new position in Microsoft in the fourth quarter worth about $44,000. 71.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Microsoft

Microsoft Corporation develops and supports software, services, devices and solutions worldwide. The Productivity and Business Processes segment offers office, exchange, SharePoint, Microsoft Teams, office 365 Security and Compliance, Microsoft viva, and Microsoft 365 copilot; and office consumer services, such as Microsoft 365 consumer subscriptions, Office licensed on-premises, and other office services.