Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Insider Bradford Smith Sells 3,812 Shares of Stock

Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) insider Bradford Smith sold 3,812 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $438.82, for a total value of $1,672,781.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 451,597 shares in the company, valued at $198,169,795.54. This represents a 0.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

Microsoft Trading Down 1.0%

NASDAQ MSFT opened at $478.53 on Friday. Microsoft Corporation has a 12 month low of $344.79 and a 12 month high of $555.45. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $504.05 and a 200 day simple moving average of $502.05. The company has a current ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. The company has a market capitalization of $3.56 trillion, a PE ratio of 34.03, a P/E/G ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.07.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The software giant reported $4.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.65 by $0.48. Microsoft had a return on equity of 32.45% and a net margin of 35.71%.The company had revenue of $77.67 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $75.49 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $3.30 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 19th will be paid a $0.91 dividend. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 19th. Microsoft’s payout ratio is presently 25.89%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Microsoft

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MSFT. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 51.3% during the 2nd quarter. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC now owns 59 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Bulwark Capital Corp bought a new position in Microsoft during the second quarter worth about $32,000. Westend Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 386.7% during the 2nd quarter. Westend Capital Management LLC now owns 73 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. Bayforest Capital Ltd acquired a new stake in Microsoft during the third quarter worth approximately $38,000. Finally, LSV Asset Management bought a new position in Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth $44,000. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MSFT has been the subject of a number of research reports. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Mizuho downgraded Microsoft from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 18th. Evercore ISI set a $640.00 target price on Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Truist Financial upped their price target on Microsoft from $650.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 18th. Finally, KeyCorp reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-seven have issued a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $632.34.

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.