Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Stock Price Down 1.5% on Insider Selling

Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)’s share price traded down 1.5% during trading on Wednesday following insider selling activity. The company traded as low as $397.16 and last traded at $397.36. 30,448,169 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 15% from the average session volume of 35,765,871 shares. The stock had previously closed at $403.41.

Specifically, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $412.45, for a total transaction of $1,031,125.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 51,968 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,434,201.60. The trade was a 4.59% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have weighed in on the company. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Monday, May 4th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on Microsoft from $575.00 to $505.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 28th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on Microsoft from $392.00 to $415.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Friday, May 22nd. Finally, DZ Bank reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Forty-one analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $561.20.

Key Microsoft News

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Negative Sentiment: Microsoft is reportedly considering a spinoff or major restructuring of its Xbox division, with layoffs and budget cuts expected, signaling trouble in a business that has been dragging on margins. Reuters report on Microsoft considering spinning out Xbox
• Negative Sentiment: Additional reports say Xbox is facing a “consistency problem” with game releases and operational issues, reinforcing concerns that the gaming segment is weighing on overall sentiment. TipRanks article on Xbox consistency issues
• Negative Sentiment: Wall Street commentary says Microsoft is also being hit by renewed skepticism around aggressive AI infrastructure spending, with investors questioning whether the huge capex cycle will produce fast enough returns. Barron’s on Microsoft AI spending pressure
• Negative Sentiment: Broader tech weakness and hedge-fund de-risking have also contributed to the stock’s decline, as investors rotate away from megacap growth names ahead of major market events. Yahoo Finance on hedge funds selling broader tech
• Neutral Sentiment: Microsoft continues to get support from its core AI and cloud story, including strong Azure demand and commentary from analysts who still view the stock as a long-term buy. Yahoo Finance on Microsoft as a long-term buy
• Neutral Sentiment: The company also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.91 per share, underscoring financial strength, but this is unlikely to be the main short-term stock driver. Microsoft announces quarterly dividend

Microsoft Price Performance

The company has a 50 day moving average of $410.65 and a 200-day moving average of $429.22. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.90 trillion, a P/E ratio of 23.26, a P/E/G ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a current ratio of 1.28, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08.

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

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 20th will be given a dividend of $0.91 per share. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 20th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is presently 21.67%.

Institutional Trading of Microsoft

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. WFA Asset Management Corp raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 27.0% during the 1st quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 1,016 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $427,000 after buying an additional 216 shares in the last quarter. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.3% during the 2nd quarter. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. now owns 12,658 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $5,658,000 after buying an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Discipline Wealth Solutions LLC raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 410.4% during the 3rd quarter. Discipline Wealth Solutions LLC now owns 2,659 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,144,000 after buying an additional 2,138 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Group Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Wealth Group Ltd. now owns 2,374 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,000,000 after buying an additional 28 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Eagle Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Eagle Capital Management LLC now owns 23,097 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $9,735,000 after buying an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by 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).