Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Down 1.4% After Insider Selling

Key Points

• Microsoft shares dropped 1.4% following insider selling by Bradford L. Smith, who sold 38,500 shares at an average price of $518.64.
• Recent earnings data showed Microsoft exceeding expectations with $4.13 EPS, surpassing estimates of $3.65, alongside a revenue of $77.67 billion.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend increase to $0.91, payable on December 11th, representing an annualized dividend of $3.64 at a yield of 0.7%.

Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) traded down 1.4% on Wednesday following insider selling activity. The stock traded as low as $506.58 and last traded at $507.16. 22,882,227 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 5% from the average session volume of 21,850,465 shares. The stock had previously closed at $514.33.

Specifically, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 38,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $518.64, for a total transaction of $19,967,640.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 461,597 shares in the company, valued at $239,402,668.08. The trade was a 7.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price target on Microsoft from $637.00 to $645.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Cantor Fitzgerald set a $639.00 price target on Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Evercore ISI set a $640.00 price target on Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Wolfe Research set a $675.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, October 28th. Finally, Melius Research raised their price target on shares of Microsoft from $595.00 to $625.00 in a research note on Thursday, September 25th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-seven have assigned a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $634.59.

Microsoft Trading Down 1.4%

The company has a quick ratio of 1.35, a current ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $514.32 and its 200 day moving average price is $490.44. The company has a market capitalization of $3.77 trillion, a P/E ratio of 36.07, a P/E/G ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.03.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 29th. The software giant reported $4.13 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.65 by $0.48. The firm had revenue of $77.67 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $75.49 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 33.47% and a net margin of 35.71%.The company's revenue for the quarter was up 18.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $3.30 EPS. Microsoft has set its Q2 2026 guidance at EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 20th will be issued a $0.91 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 20th. This is an increase from Microsoft's previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio is 25.89%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Newton One Investments LLC grew its holdings in Microsoft by 66.7% in the first quarter. Newton One Investments LLC now owns 75 shares of the software giant's stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the period. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 51.3% in the second 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 purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the second quarter worth $32,000. Westend Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 386.7% in the second quarter. Westend Capital Management LLC now owns 73 shares of the software giant's stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bayforest Capital Ltd purchased a new stake in Microsoft during the 3rd quarter valued at about $38,000. Institutional investors 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.

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