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

Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)’s share price was down 1.4% on Wednesday after an insider sold shares in the company. The stock traded as low as $506.58 and last traded at $507.16. Approximately 22,882,227 shares traded hands during trading, an increase of 5% from the average daily 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 stock in a transaction 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 sale, the insider directly owned 461,597 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $239,402,668.08. This trade represents a 7.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Arete raised their price target on shares of Microsoft from $700.00 to $710.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 1st. Citigroup raised their price target on Microsoft from $682.00 to $690.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Scotiabank raised their price target on Microsoft from $500.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Redburn Partners set a $560.00 target price on Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Finally, HSBC raised their target price on Microsoft from $643.00 to $648.00 in a research report on Monday, October 27th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-seven have issued a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $634.59.

Microsoft Price Performance

The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $514.32 and its 200 day moving average price is $490.44. 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 stock has a market cap of $3.77 trillion, a PE ratio of 36.07, a P/E/G ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.03.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The software giant reported $4.13 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.65 by $0.48. The business had revenue of $77.67 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $75.49 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.71% and a return on equity of 33.47%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 18.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $3.30 EPS. Microsoft has set its Q2 2026 guidance at EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 20th will be issued a dividend of $0.91 per share. This is a positive change from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 20th. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. Microsoft’s payout ratio is currently 25.89%.

Institutional Trading of Microsoft

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. AlphaQuest LLC increased its holdings in Microsoft by 5.9% during the second quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 342 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $170,000 after buying an additional 19 shares during the period. BLVD Private Wealth LLC increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. BLVD Private Wealth LLC now owns 3,169 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $1,641,000 after acquiring an additional 19 shares during the period. PMV Capital Advisers LLC grew its stake in Microsoft by 5.9% in the second quarter. PMV Capital Advisers LLC now owns 359 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $178,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Seek First Inc. grew its stake in Microsoft by 1.5% in the second quarter. Seek First Inc. now owns 1,358 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $675,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Level Financial Advisors grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.8% in the 2nd quarter. Level Financial Advisors now owns 2,680 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,333,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.