Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Trading Down 0.3% After Insider Selling

Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) shares were down 0.3% on Wednesday after an insider sold shares in the company. The stock traded as low as $454.25 and last traded at $456.61. Approximately 4,745,235 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 78% from the average daily volume of 21,493,888 shares. The stock had previously closed at $458.17.

Specifically, EVP Judson Althoff sold 16,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, May 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $458.18, for a total value of $7,330,880.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 98,010 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $44,906,221.80. This represents a 14.03% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Amy Coleman sold 13,243 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $452.01, for a total value of $5,985,968.43. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 43,100 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,481,631. This trade represents a 23.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Microsoft from $500.00 to $515.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday. DA Davidson lifted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $450.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $472.00 to $482.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $513.13.

Microsoft Stock Up 0.5%

The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The company has a market capitalization of $3.38 trillion, a P/E ratio of 36.62, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.99. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $401.04 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $413.59.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.22 by $0.24. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.43% and a return on equity of 33.36%. The firm had revenue of $70.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $68.54 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.94 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.73%. Microsoft’s payout ratio is presently 25.66%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Mattson Financial Services LLC lifted its stake in Microsoft by 29.0% in the first quarter. Mattson Financial Services LLC now owns 25,922 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $9,731,000 after acquiring an additional 5,834 shares during the last quarter. BOS Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 2.3% in the 1st quarter. BOS Asset Management LLC now owns 7,307 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $2,743,000 after purchasing an additional 167 shares during the period. WBI Investments LLC bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the 1st quarter valued at about $2,349,000. Main Line Retirement Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Microsoft by 3.6% in the 1st quarter. Main Line Retirement Advisors LLC now owns 2,727 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $1,024,000 after purchasing an additional 94 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MBL Wealth LLC grew its holdings in Microsoft by 5.9% during the first quarter. MBL Wealth LLC now owns 19,417 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $7,289,000 after purchasing an additional 1,084 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.