Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) CEO Sells $6,009,869.18 in Stock

Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) CEO Satya Nadella sold 14,398 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $417.41, for a total value of $6,009,869.18. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 786,933 shares in the company, valued at approximately $328,473,703.53. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website.

Microsoft Trading Down 0.8 %

NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $413.49 on Tuesday. Microsoft Co. has a 12-month low of $309.45 and a 12-month high of $468.35. The company has a current ratio of 1.27, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $434.36 and its 200-day simple moving average is $422.87. The firm has a market cap of $3.07 trillion, a P/E ratio of 35.80, a PEG ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.90.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $2.95 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.90 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $64.73 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $64.38 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.96% and a return on equity of 35.95%. Microsoft’s quarterly revenue was up 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.69 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 13.04 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 15th will be issued a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.73%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 15th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is presently 25.97%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Microsoft

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 169.2% in the second quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 70 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 44 shares during the period. Friedenthal Financial purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at about $45,000. Quarry LP acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the second quarter valued at about $45,000. Neo Ivy Capital Management purchased a new stake in Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth about $58,000. Finally, Richardson Capital Management LLC grew its position in Microsoft by 1,290.0% during the first quarter. Richardson Capital Management LLC now owns 139 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $59,000 after buying an additional 129 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MSFT has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of Microsoft from $520.00 to $506.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Truist Financial reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $600.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Monday, June 17th. New Street Research started coverage on shares of Microsoft in a report on Monday, June 10th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $570.00 price objective on the stock. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $485.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Tigress Financial raised their price target on Microsoft from $475.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 13th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $494.72.

Microsoft Company Profile

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.