Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) EVP Sells $1,812,780.00 in Stock

Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $402.84, for a total transaction of $1,812,780.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 47,468 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,122,009.12. This represents a 8.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

Takeshi Numoto also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Monday, June 8th, Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of Microsoft stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $412.45, for a total transaction of $1,031,125.00.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Microsoft stock traded up $0.40 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $390.74. The company had a trading volume of 34,851,130 shares, compared to its average volume of 35,879,383. The firm has a market cap of $2.90 trillion, a PE ratio of 23.26, a PEG ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 1.28 and a quick ratio of 1.27. Microsoft Corporation has a one year low of $356.28 and a one year high of $555.45. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $410.65 and a 200 day moving average of $429.22.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The software giant reported $4.27 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.06 by $0.21. Microsoft had a net margin of 39.34% and a return on equity of 31.94%. The firm had revenue of $82.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $81.44 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $3.46 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 18.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Microsoft Corporation will post 16.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 20th will be issued a dividend of $0.91 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 20th. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.9%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 21.67%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently issued reports on MSFT shares. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on Microsoft from $392.00 to $415.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Phillip Securities upgraded shares of Microsoft to a “buy” rating and set a $485.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 13th. William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Monday, March 9th. New Street Research reduced their price target on shares of Microsoft from $675.00 to $600.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Bank of America started coverage on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Tuesday, March 24th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $500.00 price objective on the stock. Forty-one analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $561.20.

Institutional Trading of Microsoft

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth approximately $50,664,631,000. Auto Owners Insurance Co raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 56,160.8% during the fourth quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co now owns 60,116,384 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $29,073,486,000 after acquiring an additional 60,009,531 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft during the first quarter worth $18,733,827,000. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 500.0% during the third 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 grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 49,640.3% in the second quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 29,967,038 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $14,905,904,000 after purchasing an additional 29,906,791 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Key Stories Impacting Microsoft

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft’s broader AI and cloud story remains intact, with recent commentary highlighting strong Azure demand, continued Copilot momentum, and bullish analyst views that the stock is still attractive long term.
• Positive Sentiment: The company’s quarterly dividend of $0.91 per share reinforces Microsoft’s cash generation and shareholder-return profile.
• Neutral Sentiment: Satya Nadella’s comments about using AI more efficiently and Microsoft’s tighter controls on third-party AI tools like Anthropic’s Claude suggest a focus on governance and cost discipline rather than a direct business setback.
• Negative Sentiment: Reports that Microsoft is weighing a spinoff or restructuring of Xbox, along with expected layoffs and budget cuts, are the biggest near-term headwind and are likely weighing on sentiment around the stock.
• Negative Sentiment: Additional reports of job cuts in Microsoft’s Azure unit in China and broader worries about AI infrastructure spending are adding caution about near-term execution and profitability.

Microsoft Company Profile

Microsoft Corporation is a global technology company headquartered in Redmond, Washington. Founded in 1975 by Bill Gates and Paul Allen, Microsoft develops, licenses and supports a broad range of software products, services and devices for consumers, enterprises and governments worldwide. Its operations span personal computing, productivity software, cloud infrastructure, enterprise applications, developer tools and gaming.

Microsoft’s product portfolio includes the Windows operating system and the Microsoft 365 suite of productivity and collaboration tools (Office apps, Outlook, Teams).