Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) EVP Judson Althoff sold 16,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, May 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $458.18, for a total value of $7,330,880.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 98,010 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $44,906,221.80. This represents a 14.03% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website.
Microsoft Trading Down 1.0%
Shares of MSFT traded down $4.68 on Friday, hitting $450.18. 16,874,720 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 21,548,957. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.35 trillion, a P/E ratio of 36.25, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a quick ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. Microsoft Co. has a 1 year low of $344.79 and a 1 year high of $468.35. The stock's 50 day moving average is $402.37 and its two-hundred day moving average is $413.88.
Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.22 by $0.24. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.43% and a return on equity of 33.36%. The firm had revenue of $70.07 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $68.54 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.94 earnings per share. Microsoft's revenue was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current year.
Microsoft Dividend Announcement
The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 15th will be issued a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.74%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. Microsoft's payout ratio is currently 25.66%.
Institutional Investors Weigh In On Microsoft
A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Fosun International Ltd raised its holdings in Microsoft by 0.3% in the first quarter. Fosun International Ltd now owns 6,633 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $2,490,000 after buying an additional 23 shares during the period. Muirfield Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Muirfield Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,427 shares of the software giant's stock worth $1,866,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. Retirement Financial Solutions LLC increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Retirement Financial Solutions LLC now owns 1,050 shares of the software giant's stock worth $443,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. Gagnon Securities LLC raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 3.5% in the 1st quarter. Gagnon Securities LLC now owns 704 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $264,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares during the period. Finally, Boulder Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Boulder Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,569 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $1,106,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.
Wall Street Analyst Weigh In
Several equities analysts recently commented on MSFT shares. Tigress Financial increased their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $550.00 to $595.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of Microsoft from $510.00 to $480.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 14th. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $470.00 to $500.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on shares of Microsoft from $430.00 to $494.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $513.13.
Check Out Our Latest Report on MSFT
About Microsoft
(
Get Free Report)
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.
Featured Articles
Before you consider Microsoft, you'll want to hear this.
MarketBeat keeps track of Wall Street's top-rated and best performing research analysts and the stocks they recommend to their clients on a daily basis. MarketBeat has identified the five stocks that top analysts are quietly whispering to their clients to buy now before the broader market catches on... and Microsoft wasn't on the list.
While Microsoft currently has a Moderate Buy rating among analysts, top-rated analysts believe these five stocks are better buys.
View The Five Stocks Here
MarketBeat's analysts have just released their top five short plays for June 2025. Learn which stocks have the most short interest and how to trade them. Enter your email address to see which companies made the list.
Get This Free Report
Like this article? Share it with a colleague.
Link copied to clipboard.
