Insider Selling: Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) CEO Sells $6,266,880.00 in Stock

by · The Cerbat Gem

Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT – Get Free Report) CEO Judson Althoff sold 12,750 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $491.52, for a total transaction of $6,266,880.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 129,349 shares in the company, valued at approximately $63,577,620.48. The trade was a 8.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink.

Microsoft Stock Down 2.3%

Microsoft stock traded down $11.46 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $478.54. 34,547,562 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 22,203,363. The business has a fifty day moving average of $509.01 and a 200 day moving average of $501.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a current ratio of 1.40. The firm has a market cap of $3.56 trillion, a P/E ratio of 34.04, a PEG ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 1.07. Microsoft Corporation has a 12-month low of $344.79 and a 12-month high of $555.45.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT – Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The software giant reported $4.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.65 by $0.48. The business had revenue of $77.67 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $75.49 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 32.45% and a net margin of 35.71%.The business’s revenue was up 18.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $3.30 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 19th will be given a dividend of $0.91 per share. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 19th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is presently 25.89%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on MSFT. Melius Research raised their price target on shares of Microsoft from $595.00 to $625.00 in a report on Thursday, September 25th. Baird R W upgraded shares of Microsoft to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 14th. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $625.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, October 22nd. BNP Paribas Exane increased their price objective on Microsoft from $630.00 to $632.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, November 3rd. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-seven have assigned a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $634.33.

Get Our Latest Stock Analysis on MSFT

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the second quarter worth $50,493,678,000. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 564,387.1% in the second quarter. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC now owns 90,549,369 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $45,040,162,000 after purchasing an additional 90,533,328 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in Microsoft during the 1st quarter worth about $18,733,827,000. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC grew its position in Microsoft by 500.0% during the 3rd quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 59,543,261 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $30,840,432,000 after purchasing an additional 49,618,571 shares during the period. Finally, Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 49,640.3% during the 2nd quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 29,967,038 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $14,905,904,000 after buying an additional 29,906,791 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Microsoft

(Get Free Report)

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.

Read More