Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Stock Price Down 0.2% After Insider Selling

Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)’s stock price traded down 0.2% during trading on Tuesday following insider selling activity. The stock traded as low as $428.60 and last traded at $430.07. 4,772,987 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 77% from the average session volume of 20,485,646 shares. The stock had previously closed at $430.98.

Specifically, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $430.87, for a total transaction of $1,077,175.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 53,852 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,203,211.24. The trade was a 4.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $423.48, for a total value of $423,480.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 56,511 shares in the company, valued at $23,931,278.28. The trade was a 1.74 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently commented on MSFT shares. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $550.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of Microsoft from $470.00 to $465.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 31st. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price target on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $495.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 31st. DA Davidson cut shares of Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $475.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $500.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $503.03.

Microsoft Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a current ratio of 1.30. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $420.84 and its 200-day moving average price is $426.55. The company has a market capitalization of $3.20 trillion, a P/E ratio of 35.48, a PEG ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 0.90.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.10 by $0.20. Microsoft had a return on equity of 34.56% and a net margin of 35.61%. The business had revenue of $65.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $64.57 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.99 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 12.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be paid a dividend of $0.83 per share. This is an increase from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.77%. Microsoft’s payout ratio is presently 27.39%.

Microsoft declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase plan on Monday, September 16th that allows the company to repurchase $60.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the software giant to buy up to 1.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Microsoft

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in MSFT. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc raised its stake in Microsoft by 169.2% during the 2nd quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 70 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 44 shares during the period. Quarry LP bought a new position in shares of Microsoft during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $45,000. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in Microsoft in the 3rd quarter valued at $62,000. Innealta Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the 2nd quarter valued at about $75,000. Finally, Bellevue Group AG increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 47.5% in 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. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.