Microsoft Corporation (MSFT) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.91 on June 11th

Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) declared a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, March 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 21st will be given a dividend of 0.91 per share by the software giant on Thursday, June 11th. This represents a c) annualized dividend and a yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 21st.

Microsoft has increased its dividend payment by an average of 0.1%per year over the last three years and has increased its dividend annually for the last 23 consecutive years. Microsoft has a payout ratio of 24.1% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect Microsoft to earn $19.29 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $3.64 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 18.9%.

Microsoft Stock Performance

MSFT stock opened at $423.54 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.15 trillion, a PE ratio of 25.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 1.10. Microsoft has a 12-month low of $356.28 and a 12-month high of $555.45. The company has a current ratio of 1.28, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $398.43 and its 200 day simple moving average is $439.92.

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

Insider Activity

In related news, Director John W. Stanton acquired 5,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 18th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $397.35 per share, for a total transaction of $1,986,750.00. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 83,905 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $33,339,651.75. This trade represents a 6.34% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Amy Coleman sold 1,262 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $411.34, for a total value of $519,111.08. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 46,003 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,922,874.02. This trade represents a 2.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Microsoft

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 51.3% in the 2nd quarter. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC now owns 59 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Bernzott Capital Advisors purchased a new stake in Microsoft in the 4th quarter worth $34,000. Bayforest Capital Ltd purchased a new stake in Microsoft in the 3rd quarter worth $38,000. Timmons Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Microsoft in the 4th quarter worth $36,000. Finally, Fairway Wealth LLC increased its stake in Microsoft by 287.0% in the 4th quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC now owns 89 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $43,000 after buying an additional 66 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Microsoft

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).