Insider Selling: Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) EVP Sells 13,243 Shares of Stock

Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) EVP Amy Coleman sold 13,243 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred 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. The trade was a 23.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

Microsoft Stock Up 0.3%

Shares of Microsoft stock traded up $1.14 during trading on Friday, reaching $454.27. 23,797,504 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 21,538,555. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.38 trillion, a PE ratio of 36.58, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.99. Microsoft Co. has a 1-year low of $344.79 and a 1-year high of $468.35. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $393.86 and a 200-day moving average price of $412.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 1.34.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.22 by $0.24. The firm had revenue of $70.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $68.54 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.43% and a return on equity of 33.36%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.94 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 0.73%. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio is 25.66%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Microsoft

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of MSFT. Woodline Partners LP lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 33.8% in the first quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 628,061 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $235,768,000 after buying an additional 158,755 shares in the last quarter. Zimmer Partners LP boosted its stake in Microsoft by 44.9% during the 1st quarter. Zimmer Partners LP now owns 20,000 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $7,508,000 after purchasing an additional 6,200 shares during the last quarter. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI grew its holdings in Microsoft by 17.6% during the first quarter. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI now owns 1,850,953 shares of the software giant's stock worth $694,829,000 after buying an additional 276,985 shares in the last quarter. Prostatis Group LLC raised its position in Microsoft by 1.6% in the 1st quarter. Prostatis Group LLC now owns 6,104 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $2,291,000 after buying an additional 97 shares during the last quarter. Finally, McIlrath & Eck LLC raised its position in Microsoft by 32.5% in the 1st quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 103,803 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $38,966,000 after buying an additional 25,454 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have weighed in on MSFT shares. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $470.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. UBS Group reduced their price target on Microsoft from $510.00 to $480.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 14th. StockNews.com upgraded Microsoft from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, May 5th. Finally, Piper Sandler reiterated a "neutral" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $509.16.

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.

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