Insider Selling: Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) EVP Sells $1,031,125.00 in Stock

Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $412.45, for a total transaction of $1,031,125.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 51,968 shares in the company, valued at $21,434,201.60. This represents a 4.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

Takeshi Numoto also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Wednesday, June 10th, Takeshi Numoto sold 4,500 shares of Microsoft stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $402.84, for a total transaction of $1,812,780.00.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of Microsoft stock opened at $390.74 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.90 trillion, a P/E ratio of 23.26, a P/E/G ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.11. Microsoft Corporation has a 52 week low of $356.28 and a 52 week high of $555.45. The company has a quick ratio of 1.27, a current ratio of 1.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $411.08 and its two-hundred day moving average is $428.95.

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

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The firm 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. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 20th. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.9%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 21.67%.

Microsoft News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft’s broader AI and cloud story remains intact, with recent commentary highlighting strong Azure demand, continued Copilot momentum, and bullish analyst views that the stock is still attractive long term.
• Positive Sentiment: The company’s quarterly dividend of $0.91 per share reinforces Microsoft’s cash generation and shareholder-return profile.
• Neutral Sentiment: Satya Nadella’s comments about using AI more efficiently and Microsoft’s tighter controls on third-party AI tools like Anthropic’s Claude suggest a focus on governance and cost discipline rather than a direct business setback.
• Negative Sentiment: Reports that Microsoft is weighing a spinoff or restructuring of Xbox, along with expected layoffs and budget cuts, are the biggest near-term headwind and are likely weighing on sentiment around the stock.
• Negative Sentiment: Additional reports of job cuts in Microsoft’s Azure unit in China and broader worries about AI infrastructure spending are adding caution about near-term execution and profitability.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on MSFT shares. Phillip Securities upgraded shares of Microsoft to a “buy” rating and set a $485.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 13th. TD Cowen restated a “buy” rating and set a $540.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, June 4th. Truist Financial lowered their target price on shares of Microsoft from $675.00 to $575.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. UBS Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Finally, DA Davidson lowered their target price on shares of Microsoft from $650.00 to $550.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Forty-one investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $561.20.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Microsoft

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. PMG Family Office LLC acquired a new position in Microsoft in the 3rd quarter valued at about $828,000. Trifecta Capital Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Microsoft by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. Trifecta Capital Advisors LLC now owns 70,175 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $36,347,000 after buying an additional 1,572 shares during the period. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. grew its holdings in Microsoft by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. now owns 949,901 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $493,860,000 after buying an additional 9,700 shares during the period. Werba Rubin Papier Wealth Management grew its holdings in Microsoft by 15.7% in the 4th quarter. Werba Rubin Papier Wealth Management now owns 12,492 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $6,041,000 after buying an additional 1,698 shares during the period. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC grew its holdings in Microsoft by 2,332.1% in the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 6,746,017 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $3,262,509,000 after buying an additional 6,468,645 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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).