Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Stock: Insider Amy Hood Sells 7,305 Shares

Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) EVP Amy Hood sold 7,305 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on Monday, November 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $544.37, for a total value of $3,976,622.85. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 548,091 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $298,364,297.67. This trade represents a 1.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

Amy Hood also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Tuesday, October 13th, Amy Hood sold 7,305 shares of Microsoft stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $545.42, for a total value of $3,984,293.10.
• On Monday, September 14th, Amy Hood sold 41,674 shares of Microsoft stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $498.27, for a total value of $20,764,903.98.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of MSFT opened at $521.13 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.22, a quick ratio of 1.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. Microsoft Corporation has a 1 year low of $349.20 and a 1 year high of $559.15. The stock has a market cap of $3.87 trillion, a P/E ratio of 27.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.05. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $518.20 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $441.37.

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

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 19th will be paid a $0.98 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 19th. This is a boost from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.91. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.8%. Microsoft’s payout ratio is currently 20.46%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on MSFT shares. DA Davidson boosted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $550.00 to $650.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 29th. UBS Group set a $700.00 target price on Microsoft in a report on Thursday, October 29th. Phillip Securities cut Microsoft from a “moderate buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, October 12th. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their target price on Microsoft from $662.00 to $722.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 29th. Finally, Deutsche Bank restated a “buy” rating and issued a $600.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a report on Monday, October 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-six have issued a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $609.54.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Microsoft

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in MSFT. Hedeker Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 6.9% during the 2nd quarter. Hedeker Wealth LLC now owns 55,236 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $20,604,000 after buying an additional 3,546 shares during the period. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management increased its position in Microsoft by 4.0% during the 2nd quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management now owns 229,490 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $85,604,000 after buying an additional 8,773 shares during the period. D.B. Root & Company LLC bought a new position in Microsoft during the second quarter worth about $3,652,000. Dearborn Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Microsoft during the second quarter worth approximately $75,641,000. Finally, GTS Securities LLC increased its stake in Microsoft by 44.6% during the 2nd quarter. GTS Securities LLC now owns 271,597 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $101,311,000 after acquiring an additional 83,734 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Key Microsoft News

Here’s some of the latest news about MSFT:

• Neutral Sentiment: Evercore said Anthropic’s Claude Sheets is not yet a substitute for Excel, tempering concerns that the new tools will quickly displace Microsoft 365. Still, the launch puts competitive pressure on Microsoft’s productivity products and Copilot. Evercore weighs disruption concerns after Claude Sheets launch
• Negative Sentiment: Reports that Microsoft is pushing back against a potential U.S. ban on Chinese data-center components point to a possible obstacle for equipment access and data-center deployment—important given the company’s AI infrastructure needs. Microsoft presses to scuttle expected ban on Chinese data-center technology
• Negative Sentiment: OpenAI’s reported $10.9 billion quarterly adjusted operating loss has renewed questions about the profitability of Microsoft’s major AI partnership and the returns on its AI investment. Microsoft’s OpenAI bet and questions raised by Anthropic’s profit lead

Microsoft Company Profile

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.