Insider Selling: Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Insider Sells 75,000 Shares of Stock

Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) insider Bradford L. Smith sold 75,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $436.05, for a total transaction of $32,703,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 476,999 shares in the company, valued at $207,995,413.95. This trade represents a 13.59 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

Microsoft Price Performance

MSFT traded up $4.65 during trading on Thursday, reaching $438.00. 23,416,600 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 24,386,580. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 1.34. The company has a market capitalization of $3.26 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.27, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.99. The business's 50 day moving average price is $387.20 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $411.42. Microsoft Co. has a 1 year low of $344.79 and a 1 year high of $468.35.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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. The business had revenue of $70.07 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $68.54 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 33.36% and a net margin of 35.43%. The business's revenue was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.94 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The firm 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. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.76%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 25.66%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Microsoft

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MSFT. Newton One Investments LLC increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 66.7% during the 1st quarter. Newton One Investments LLC now owns 75 shares of the software giant's stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. Ball & Co Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth about $38,000. IFS Advisors LLC increased its position in Microsoft by 53.8% during the 4th quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 100 shares of the software giant's stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Finally, LSV Asset Management acquired a new position in Microsoft during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $44,000. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have issued reports on MSFT. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Microsoft from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday. Needham & Company LLC restated a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, May 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on Microsoft from $450.00 to $480.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. TD Securities upped their target price on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $490.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Tigress Financial boosted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $550.00 to $595.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Microsoft currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $507.77.

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.