Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Stock Price Down 1.1% After Insider Selling

Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)’s share price fell 1.1% during mid-day trading on Wednesday after an insider sold shares in the company. The stock traded as low as $485.68 and last traded at $487.46. Approximately 32,969,719 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 13% from the average daily volume of 37,978,242 shares. The stock had previously closed at $492.81.

Specifically, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,810 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $496.48, for a total value of $2,388,068.80. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 42,677 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,188,276.96. The trade was a 10.13% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Microsoft from $625.00 to $650.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $575.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, May 13th. Barclays lowered their price objective on Microsoft from $545.00 to $512.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Mizuho dropped their target price on Microsoft from $515.00 to $490.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. Finally, Scotiabank reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $510.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Forty-two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $558.87.

Microsoft News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Custom AI chips could improve Azure economics. CEO Satya Nadella said Microsoft’s internally developed AI chips are producing efficiency gains of up to 40%. Lower computing costs could support Azure margins and make Microsoft’s growing AI infrastructure investments more profitable. Microsoft’s AI Chips and Efficiency Gains
• Positive Sentiment: India expansion adds to Microsoft’s long-term cloud opportunity. Microsoft opened its largest Indian data-center hub in Hyderabad, signed early customers including Adani Group and HDFC Bank, and is investing approximately $20.5 billion in the country. The expansion strengthens Azure’s position in a rapidly growing AI market. Microsoft Opens India Data Center
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst and investor confidence remains supportive. Scotiabank raised its fiscal 2027 EPS estimate to $19.21 and maintained an “Outperform” rating. Bill Ackman’s Pershing Square also holds a roughly $2.4 billion Microsoft position, reflecting confidence in Microsoft’s cloud leadership and AI monetization potential. Microsoft Post-Earnings Review
• Neutral Sentiment: Microsoft is simplifying Teams. The company is reportedly removing Teams Live Chat, a move that could improve usability but is unlikely to materially affect financial results. Microsoft Removes Teams Live Chat
• Negative Sentiment: AI spending and margins remain key risks. Microsoft’s large capital expenditures and data-center commitments could pressure free cash flow and cloud margins if infrastructure costs rise faster than AI revenue. OpenAI’s reported contribution of approximately 70% of Microsoft’s AI sales also creates customer-concentration risk.
• Negative Sentiment: Insider selling and litigation add headline pressure. CEO Judson Althoff sold 10,000 shares worth about $4.9 million, following EVP Takeshi Numoto’s $2.4 million sale. Law firms are also publicizing a securities class action with an August 11 lead-plaintiff deadline; these notices do not establish wrongdoing but may weigh on sentiment. Microsoft Insider Sale

Microsoft Trading Up 0.0%

The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $403.86 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $406.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a current ratio of 1.23. The firm has a market cap of $3.71 trillion, a PE ratio of 27.84, a P/E/G ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.11.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The software giant reported $4.74 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.24 by $0.50. Microsoft had a return on equity of 31.98% and a net margin of 40.31%.The firm had revenue of $90.01 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $87.62 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.65 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 17.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Microsoft Corporation will post 19.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 20th will be paid a $0.91 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 20th. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is presently 20.27%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 717,942,580 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $347,211,391,000 after buying an additional 15,955,898 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 306,150,608 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $148,060,557,000 after acquiring an additional 6,388,930 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 182,618,400 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $88,056,019,000 after acquiring an additional 1,911,142 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 121,220,561 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $58,624,690,000 after acquiring an additional 980,439 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the 4th quarter valued at about $50,664,631,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

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).