Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Stock Price Up 1.5% After Dividend Announcement

Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)’s share price shot up 1.5% on Wednesday following a dividend announcement from the company. The stock traded as high as $439.55 and last traded at $437.54. 7,004,814 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 66% from the average session volume of 20,481,127 shares. The stock had previously closed at $431.20.

The newly announced dividend which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be paid a dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.75%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 27.39%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on MSFT shares. Citigroup decreased their target price on Microsoft from $500.00 to $497.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company restated a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Friday, October 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on Microsoft from $515.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and set a $550.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, DA Davidson downgraded Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $475.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $504.36.

Microsoft Price Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $3.29 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.52, a PEG ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a current ratio of 1.30, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $421.16 and a 200 day moving average price of $426.89.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.10 by $0.20. The firm had revenue of $65.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $64.57 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 34.56% and a net margin of 35.61%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.99 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 12.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft declared that its board has initiated a stock buyback program on Monday, September 16th that authorizes the company to repurchase $60.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the software giant to repurchase up to 1.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $417.00, for a total transaction of $10,425,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 117,294 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $48,911,598. This trade represents a 17.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $414.72, for a total value of $414,720.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer now owns 57,511 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,850,961.92. This trade represents a 1.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 98,578 shares of company stock valued at $40,553,696 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Microsoft

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MSFT. Rebalance LLC lifted its stake in Microsoft by 0.7% in the 2nd quarter. Rebalance LLC now owns 3,451 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $1,542,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. First National Bank Sioux Falls lifted its position in Microsoft by 0.4% during the 2nd quarter. First National Bank Sioux Falls now owns 6,340 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $2,834,000 after buying an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. BCK Partners Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. BCK Partners Inc. now owns 1,353 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $582,000 after buying an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. Doheny Asset Management CA grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. Doheny Asset Management CA now owns 6,397 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $2,691,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Flagship Private Wealth LLC increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 2.8% in the second quarter. Flagship Private Wealth LLC now owns 913 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $408,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

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.