Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Insider Sells $32,703,750.00 in Stock

Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) insider Bradford L. Smith sold 75,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $436.05, for a total transaction of $32,703,750.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 476,999 shares in the company, valued at approximately $207,995,413.95. This trade represents a 13.59 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website.

Microsoft Stock Up 1.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ MSFT opened at $438.00 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 1.34. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $388.19 and its two-hundred day moving average is $411.61. Microsoft Co. has a 12-month low of $344.79 and a 12-month high of $468.35. The company has a market capitalization of $3.26 trillion, a PE ratio of 35.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.99.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.22 by $0.24. Microsoft had a return on equity of 33.36% and a net margin of 35.43%. The firm had revenue of $70.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $68.54 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.94 EPS. Microsoft’s quarterly revenue was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 15th will be paid a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.76%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. Microsoft’s payout ratio is 25.66%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Mizuho raised their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Bank of America lowered their price target on Microsoft from $510.00 to $480.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Tigress Financial upped their price target on Microsoft from $550.00 to $595.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $515.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $507.77.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Microsoft

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of MSFT. Newton One Investments LLC grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 66.7% in the first quarter. Newton One Investments LLC now owns 75 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the period. Ball & Co Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft during the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth about $38,000. IFS Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Microsoft by 53.8% in the fourth quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 100 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares during the period. Finally, LSV Asset Management acquired a new position in Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth approximately $44,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

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.