Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Stock: Insider Takeshi Numoto Sells 5,000 Shares

Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 5,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $531.00, for a total value of $2,655,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 54,412 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $28,892,772. The trade was a 8.42% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of Microsoft stock opened at $523.88 on Friday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $519.00 and a 200-day simple moving average of $441.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 1.21 and a current ratio of 1.22. Microsoft Corporation has a one year low of $349.20 and a one year high of $559.15. The company has a market cap of $3.89 trillion, a PE ratio of 27.34, a P/E/G ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.05.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 28th. The software giant reported $4.89 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.72 by $0.17. The firm had revenue of $92.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $90.62 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 41.17% and a return on equity of 31.28%. The firm’s revenue was up 18.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $4.13 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Microsoft Corporation will post 19.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 19th will be given a $0.98 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 19th. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. This is a boost from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.91. Microsoft’s payout ratio is currently 19.00%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on MSFT. Yorkville Ives started coverage on shares of Microsoft in a report on Monday, October 5th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $615.00 price objective on the stock. KeyCorp set a $625.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, October 29th. UBS Group set a $700.00 target price on Microsoft in a report on Thursday, October 29th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on Microsoft from $575.00 to $650.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 14th. Finally, Melius Research upgraded Microsoft from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $665.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-six have given a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $609.54.

Institutional Trading of Microsoft

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Bank of America Corp DE purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the second quarter valued at about $27,338,370,000. Legal & General Group Plc acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the second quarter worth about $18,306,443,000. Jupiter Topco LLC purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft during the second quarter worth about $6,928,664,000. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft during the second quarter worth about $5,653,812,000. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft during the second quarter worth about $4,000,706,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Key Headlines Impacting Microsoft

These are some of the MSFT headlines that stood out recently:

• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft reported improving availability and said Outlook email queues were approaching normal levels, easing some immediate concern about the disruption. One analyst reiterated a Buy rating and a $630 price target, citing Azure growth of 48% and expected growth of 49%–50% in fiscal Q2. Microsoft outage recovery update Analyst Buy rating and price target
• Neutral Sentiment: Microsoft’s latest quarterly results were strong: earnings per share and revenue exceeded estimates, with revenue up 18.8% year over year. That performance supports the longer-term growth case, although recent outage and competition headlines have drawn investor attention. Microsoft earnings and financial data
• Negative Sentiment: Competition is also weighing on sentiment: Anthropic’s new workplace tools threaten Microsoft 365 and Copilot, while Microsoft’s substantial AI infrastructure spending raises questions about returns on investment. Competition concerns around Microsoft

About Microsoft

Microsoft Corporation is a global technology company that develops software, cloud services, devices, and digital solutions for consumers, businesses, and public-sector organizations. Founded in 1975 by Bill Gates and Paul Allen, the company is headquartered in Redmond, Washington. Its products and services include the Windows operating system, Microsoft 365 productivity applications, Azure cloud computing, LinkedIn, GitHub, Surface devices, and Xbox gaming products and services. Microsoft also provides business software, cybersecurity tools, and artificial intelligence technologies.