Judson Althoff Sells 16,000 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Stock

Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) EVP Judson Althoff sold 16,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 19th. The stock was 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 directly owns 98,010 shares in the company, valued at $44,906,221.80. This trade represents a 14.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website.

Microsoft Stock Performance

MSFT stock opened at $454.86 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $401.04 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $413.59. Microsoft Co. has a twelve month low of $344.79 and a twelve month high of $468.35. The firm has a market cap of $3.38 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.62, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.99.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.22 by $0.24. The firm had revenue of $70.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $68.54 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 33.36% and a net margin of 35.43%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.94 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.73%. Microsoft’s payout ratio is currently 25.66%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MSFT has been the topic of several recent research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on Microsoft from $480.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. Scotiabank upped their price objective on Microsoft from $470.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Microsoft from $472.00 to $482.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $513.13.

Institutional Trading of Microsoft

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in MSFT. Newton One Investments LLC raised its holdings in Microsoft by 66.7% in the first quarter. Newton One Investments LLC now owns 75 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Ball & Co Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in Microsoft in the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Microsoft in the fourth quarter worth about $38,000. IFS Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Microsoft by 53.8% in the fourth quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 100 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Finally, LSV Asset Management bought a new position in Microsoft in the fourth quarter worth about $44,000. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.