Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Trading Down 2.3% After Insider Selling

Shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) traded down 2.3% on Wednesday after an insider sold shares in the company. The company traded as low as $475.20 and last traded at $478.5410. 33,500,425 shares traded hands during trading, an increase of 51% from the average session volume of 22,199,627 shares. The stock had previously closed at $490.00.

Specifically, CEO Judson Althoff sold 12,750 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $491.52, for a total transaction of $6,266,880.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 129,349 shares in the company, valued at approximately $63,577,620.48. This represents a 8.97% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have weighed in on MSFT. Baird R W upgraded shares of Microsoft to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 14th. BNP Paribas Exane raised their target price on shares of Microsoft from $630.00 to $632.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, November 3rd. Redburn Partners set a $560.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday, October 22nd. Guggenheim set a $675.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday, November 19th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday, November 19th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-seven have given a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $634.33.

Microsoft Stock Up 0.5%

The business has a fifty day moving average of $507.85 and a 200 day moving average of $500.78. The company has a market capitalization of $3.59 trillion, a PE ratio of 34.36, a PEG ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a current ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 35.71% and a return on equity of 32.45%. The business had revenue of $77.67 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 19th will be given a $0.91 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 19th. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.8%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 25.89%.

Institutional Trading of Microsoft

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of MSFT. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC lifted its position in Microsoft by 51.3% in the 2nd quarter. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC now owns 59 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Bulwark Capital Corp bought a new stake in Microsoft in the second quarter valued at about $32,000. Westend Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Microsoft by 386.7% in the second quarter. Westend Capital Management LLC now owns 73 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. Bayforest Capital Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the third quarter worth $38,000. Finally, LSV Asset Management bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $44,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

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.