Microsoft Sees Unusually High Options Volume (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) was the recipient of some unusual options trading on Wednesday. Stock traders bought 495,697 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 53% compared to the average daily volume of 323,886 call options.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on MSFT. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Microsoft from $470.00 to $465.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 31st. UBS Group cut their price objective on Microsoft from $525.00 to $510.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $520.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Monday, January 27th. DA Davidson restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $425.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Microsoft from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $510.96.

Insider Activity

In other Microsoft news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the chief marketing officer now owns 57,511 shares in the company, valued at $23,850,961.92. This represents a 1.71 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $417.00, for a total value of $10,425,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 117,294 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $48,911,598. This trade represents a 17.57 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 34,000 shares of company stock worth $14,333,540 over the last quarter. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of MSFT. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at $38,000. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc increased its position in Microsoft by 35.7% in the 3rd quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 95 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $39,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. IFS Advisors LLC increased its position in Microsoft by 53.8% in the 4th quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 100 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. LSV Asset Management acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth approximately $44,000. Finally, Quarry LP acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $45,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Stock Performance

NASDAQ MSFT traded up $5.13 on Wednesday, hitting $414.77. The stock had a trading volume of 23,919,757 shares, compared to its average volume of 22,323,854. Microsoft has a one year low of $385.58 and a one year high of $468.35. The company has a quick ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The stock has a market cap of $3.08 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.40, a P/E/G ratio of 2.17 and a beta of 0.90. The company’s 50-day moving average is $427.33 and its two-hundred day moving average is $422.79.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The software giant reported $3.23 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.15 by $0.08. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.43% and a return on equity of 33.36%. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.93 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Microsoft will post 13.07 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be paid a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.80%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is presently 26.73%.

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.