Insider Selling: Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) CFO Sells 38,000 Shares of Stock

Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) CFO Amy Hood sold 38,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $410.55, for a total value of $15,600,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 496,369 shares in the company, valued at $203,784,292.95. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

Microsoft Trading Down 1.6 %

MSFT opened at $401.70 on Friday. Microsoft Co. has a 1-year low of $309.45 and a 1-year high of $468.35. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.99 trillion, a PE ratio of 34.78, a PEG ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a current ratio of 1.27, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $427.59 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $422.93.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $2.95 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.90 by $0.05. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.96% and a return on equity of 35.95%. The business had revenue of $64.73 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $64.38 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.69 earnings per share. Microsoft’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 13.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.75%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 15th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.97%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Citigroup lowered their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $520.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of Microsoft from $520.00 to $506.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $550.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Tigress Financial lifted their target price on Microsoft from $475.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 13th. Finally, Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $485.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-two have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $494.72.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Microsoft

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MSFT. Cim LLC lifted its position in Microsoft by 7.1% during the 2nd quarter. Cim LLC now owns 11,975 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $4,890,000 after purchasing an additional 792 shares during the period. Sanctuary Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Microsoft in the second quarter valued at approximately $361,162,000. Clear Rock Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Microsoft by 0.9% in the second quarter. Clear Rock Advisors LLC now owns 9,711 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $4,340,000 after acquiring an additional 87 shares during the last quarter. Creekside Partners acquired a new stake in Microsoft during the 2nd quarter worth $2,879,000. Finally, NCP Inc. raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 24.7% during the 2nd quarter. NCP Inc. now owns 8,531 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $3,813,000 after acquiring an additional 1,689 shares during the last quarter. 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.