Insider Selling: Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) EVP Sells 7,200 Shares of Stock

Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) EVP Christopher David Young sold 7,200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $423.66, for a total transaction of $3,050,352.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 103,366 shares in the company, valued at $43,792,039.56. This represents a 6.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website.

Microsoft Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ MSFT opened at $426.89 on Friday. Microsoft Co. has a 52-week low of $362.90 and a 52-week high of $468.35. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The business’s 50 day moving average is $421.71 and its two-hundred day moving average is $425.43. The firm has a market cap of $3.17 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.22, a PEG ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 0.91.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.10 by $0.20. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.61% and a return on equity of 34.56%. The firm had revenue of $65.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $64.57 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.99 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 12.94 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft announced that its board has authorized a share repurchase program on Monday, September 16th that authorizes the company to buyback $60.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the software giant to buy up to 1.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be paid a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. This is a boost from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.78%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 24.75%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Microsoft

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of MSFT. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc boosted its holdings in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Quarry LP acquired a new stake in Microsoft in the second quarter valued at $45,000. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the third quarter valued at about $62,000. Innealta Capital LLC purchased a new position in Microsoft in the second quarter valued at about $75,000. Finally, Bellevue Group AG raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 47.5% during the 1st quarter. Bellevue Group AG now owns 180 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $76,000 after buying an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have commented on MSFT. TD Cowen cut their target price on shares of Microsoft from $495.00 to $475.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Truist Financial reissued a “buy” rating and set a $600.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a report on Monday, October 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on Microsoft from $470.00 to $465.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Sanford C. Bernstein cut their price target on Microsoft from $501.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on Microsoft from $500.00 to $495.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and twenty-six have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $503.03.

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.