Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Stock Price Down 0.9% on Insider Selling

Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)’s stock price fell 0.9% on Friday after an insider sold shares in the company. The company traded as low as $404.60 and last traded at $404.73. 2,995,861 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 85% from the average session volume of 20,589,637 shares. The stock had previously closed at $408.39.

Specifically, CFO Amy Hood sold 38,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $410.55, for a total value of $15,600,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 496,369 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $203,784,292.95. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Satya Nadella sold 78,353 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $408.63, for a total transaction of $32,017,386.39. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 864,327 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $353,189,942.01. The disclosure for this sale can be found here.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MSFT has been the topic of several analyst reports. Tigress Financial upped their price target on Microsoft from $475.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 13th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $500.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $550.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $480.00 to $510.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on Microsoft from $520.00 to $506.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-two have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $494.72.

Microsoft Stock Performance

The business has a 50 day moving average price of $427.59 and a 200 day moving average price of $422.93. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.99 trillion, a PE ratio of 34.78, a PEG ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 1.27 and a quick ratio of 1.27.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $2.95 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.90 by $0.05. Microsoft had a return on equity of 35.95% and a net margin of 35.96%. The business had revenue of $64.73 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $64.38 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.69 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 13.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

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

Institutional Trading of Microsoft

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc grew its holdings in Microsoft by 169.2% during the second quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 70 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares during the period. Quarry LP bought a new stake in Microsoft in the 2nd quarter valued at $45,000. Neo Ivy Capital Management purchased a new stake in Microsoft in the 4th quarter worth $58,000. Richardson Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 1,290.0% during the 1st quarter. Richardson Capital Management LLC now owns 139 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $59,000 after purchasing an additional 129 shares during the last quarter. Finally, PayPay Securities Corp grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 23.7% during the fourth quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 188 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $71,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.