Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) CMO Takeshi Numoto Sells 2,500 Shares

Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $447.41, for a total transaction of $1,118,525.00. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 49,352 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,080,578.32. The trade was a 4.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link.

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

• On Wednesday, December 4th, Takeshi Numoto sold 2,000 shares of Microsoft stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $437.32, for a total value of $874,640.00.
• On Monday, December 2nd, Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of Microsoft stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $430.87, for a total value of $1,077,175.00.
• On Wednesday, November 27th, Takeshi Numoto sold 1,000 shares of Microsoft stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $423.48, for a total transaction of $423,480.00.
• On Friday, November 22nd, Takeshi Numoto sold 1,000 shares of Microsoft stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $414.72, for a total transaction of $414,720.00.

Microsoft Stock Down 0.6 %

Shares of NASDAQ MSFT traded down $2.69 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $443.33. 18,448,047 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 20,552,332. The company has a market cap of $3.30 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.58, a P/E/G ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 0.90. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $421.78 and its 200-day simple moving average is $427.11. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. Microsoft Co. has a one year low of $364.13 and a one year high of $468.35.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.10 by $0.20. The business had revenue of $65.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $64.57 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.61% and a return on equity of 34.56%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.99 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 12.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be issued a dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.75%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is presently 27.39%.

Microsoft announced that its board has approved a share repurchase plan on Monday, September 16th that allows the company to repurchase $60.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the software giant to purchase up to 1.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently commented on MSFT shares. Citigroup dropped their price target on Microsoft from $500.00 to $497.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $470.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. StockNews.com upgraded Microsoft from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. DA Davidson lowered shares of Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $475.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein reduced their target price on shares of Microsoft from $501.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $504.36.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Microsoft

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc grew its stake in Microsoft by 169.2% during the 2nd quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 70 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP acquired a new position in Microsoft in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $45,000. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in Microsoft during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $62,000. Innealta Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Microsoft during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $75,000. Finally, Bellevue Group AG boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 47.5% in the 1st quarter. Bellevue Group AG now owns 180 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $76,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Company Profile

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.