Bradford Smith Sells 38,500 Shares of Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Stock

Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) insider Bradford Smith sold 38,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $518.64, for a total value of $19,967,640.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 461,597 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $239,402,668.08. The trade was a 7.70% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink.

Microsoft Stock Performance

NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $507.16 on Thursday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $514.32 and a 200 day moving average of $490.56. The company has a market capitalization of $3.77 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.07, a PEG ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.03. Microsoft Corporation has a 1-year low of $344.79 and a 1-year high of $555.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 1.35.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The software giant reported $4.13 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.65 by $0.48. The company had revenue of $77.67 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $75.49 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 33.47% and a net margin of 35.71%.Microsoft’s quarterly revenue was up 18.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.30 EPS. Microsoft has set its Q2 2026 guidance at EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 20th will be given a $0.91 dividend. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 20th. This is a positive change from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is presently 25.89%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MSFT has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Scotiabank boosted their target price on Microsoft from $500.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Arete boosted their target price on Microsoft from $700.00 to $710.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 1st. Melius Research boosted their target price on Microsoft from $595.00 to $625.00 in a research report on Thursday, September 25th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $640.00 price objective on Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, Westpark Capital reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-seven have assigned a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $634.59.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Microsoft

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Newton One Investments LLC grew its stake in Microsoft by 66.7% in the first quarter. Newton One Investments LLC now owns 75 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the period. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC grew its stake in Microsoft by 51.3% in the second 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 during the period. Bulwark Capital Corp purchased a new stake in Microsoft in the second quarter worth $32,000. Westend Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Microsoft by 386.7% in the second quarter. Westend Capital Management LLC now owns 73 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the period. Finally, Bayforest Capital Ltd purchased a new stake in Microsoft in the third quarter worth $38,000. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

About Microsoft

Microsoft Corporation develops and supports software, services, devices and solutions worldwide. The Productivity and Business Processes segment offers office, exchange, SharePoint, Microsoft Teams, office 365 Security and Compliance, Microsoft viva, and Microsoft 365 copilot; and office consumer services, such as Microsoft 365 consumer subscriptions, Office licensed on-premises, and other office services.