Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) EVP Takeshi Numoto Sells 5,000 Shares of Stock

Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $531.00, for a total value of $2,655,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 54,412 shares in the company, valued at approximately $28,892,772. This trade represents a 8.42% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink.

Microsoft Stock Up 0.4%

MSFT stock traded up $1.87 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $523.00. The company had a trading volume of 18,540,749 shares, compared to its average volume of 33,377,895. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $518.20 and a 200 day simple moving average of $441.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 1.21 and a current ratio of 1.22. The company has a market capitalization of $3.88 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.05. Microsoft Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $349.20 and a fifty-two week high of $559.15.

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

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 19th will be paid a $0.98 dividend. This is an increase from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.91. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 19th. Microsoft’s payout ratio is presently 20.46%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. State Street Corp raised its stake in Microsoft by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 320,715,997 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $164,495,235,000 after acquiring an additional 5,062,791 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the second quarter worth approximately $27,338,370,000. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 0.9% during the second quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 64,375,360 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $24,013,297,000 after purchasing an additional 543,172 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the second quarter worth $18,306,443,000. Finally, Amundi lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 12.0% during the second quarter. Amundi now owns 46,694,778 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $17,418,076,000 after purchasing an additional 5,019,702 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

More Microsoft News

These are some of the MSFT news items that stood out recently:

• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft’s upcoming Ignite conference is expected to spotlight Azure and Copilot, supporting investor optimism about continued AI-driven cloud growth. Shares advanced, although Microsoft’s move into the world’s No. 2 spot by market value also reflected a sharp decline in Nvidia shares. Microsoft stock rises as Ignite conference puts AI growth narrative in focus
• Neutral Sentiment: Microsoft’s AI power pledges have not eased concerns among Democratic lawmakers, raising potential regulatory risks for data centers and AI companies. Google, Microsoft ‘Fail to Sway’ Democrats With AI Power Pledge
• Negative Sentiment: Anthropic’s new workplace tools, including spreadsheet software, add competitive pressure to Microsoft 365 and Excel. The products are still in beta, but the news has fueled concern about threats to a major productivity-software business. Anthropic Now Makes Its Own Spreadsheet Software

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MSFT has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Benchmark reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Oppenheimer raised their price target on Microsoft from $570.00 to $625.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 26th. Bank of America increased their price target on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $600.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 1st. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $575.00 to $650.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 29th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $640.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. One research 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $609.54.

About Microsoft

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.