Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) EVP Sells $3,984,293.10 in Stock

Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) EVP Amy Hood sold 7,305 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $545.42, for a total value of $3,984,293.10. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 555,396 shares in the company, valued at approximately $302,924,086.32. The trade was a 1.30% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

Amy Hood also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Monday, September 14th, Amy Hood sold 41,674 shares of Microsoft stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $498.27, for a total transaction of $20,764,903.98.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of MSFT opened at $529.05 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.93 trillion, a P/E ratio of 29.46, a P/E/G ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 1.10. Microsoft Corporation has a 52 week low of $349.20 and a 52 week high of $553.72. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $505.53 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $440.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a current ratio of 1.23.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 29th. The software giant reported $4.74 earnings per share (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 analysts’ expectations of $87.62 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $3.65 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Microsoft Corporation will post 19.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 19th will be given a dividend of $0.98 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 19th. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.7%. This is an increase from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.91. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is presently 20.27%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Microsoft

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 2.9% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 315,653,206 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $117,744,959,000 after acquiring an additional 8,944,917 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the 2nd quarter worth about $27,338,370,000. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its position in Microsoft by 0.9% in 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 period. Auto Owners Insurance Co boosted its stake in Microsoft by 56,160.8% during the 4th quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co now owns 60,116,384 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $29,073,486,000 after purchasing an additional 60,009,531 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc acquired a new position in Microsoft during the second quarter worth about $18,306,443,000. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Key Headlines Impacting Microsoft

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Analysts expect Microsoft to remain the only major hyperscaler with positive free cash flow over the next year despite heavy AI investment. This reinforces confidence that the company can fund data-center expansion without substantial external financing. Microsoft Free Cash Flow Expected to Remain Positive
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft signed a 20-year agreement with NiSource for approximately 1,100 megawatts of power for an Indiana data-center campus beginning in 2028. Securing electricity supports future Azure capacity as grid constraints become a bottleneck for AI expansion. Microsoft Signs Power Deal With NiSource
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft’s custom Maia AI chips and reports that a new model achieved comparable or better performance than OpenAI’s system using a fraction of the computing power could eventually reduce reliance on expensive third-party GPUs and improve AI economics. Microsoft Wants to Make AI Cheaper
• Neutral Sentiment: Investors are focused on Azure growth, Copilot adoption, AI monetization and capital expenditures ahead of earnings. Strong demand could support the shares, but the market wants evidence that revenue growth is translating into sustainable margins.
• Negative Sentiment: The U.K. Competition and Markets Authority is investigating Microsoft’s grip on business software and says Microsoft and Amazon Web Services may need to do more to address cloud-service barriers. Potential remedies could increase compliance costs or weaken customer-lock-in advantages. UK Regulator Targets Microsoft’s Business Software Grip
• Negative Sentiment: Questions remain over whether custom chips will deliver meaningful savings: AI infrastructure, power and data-center commitments are rising rapidly, while Microsoft is reportedly seeking substantial cost reductions in Azure. That creates concern about near-term free-cash-flow and margin pressure.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have issued reports on MSFT shares. Evercore upgraded Microsoft from an “underperform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 5th. Scotiabank boosted their price target on Microsoft from $510.00 to $615.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 5th. Wolfe Research cut Microsoft from an “outperform” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 23rd. Barclays lifted their target price on Microsoft from $512.00 to $600.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Rothschild & Co Redburn set a $440.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Monday, September 21st. Forty-two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $589.71.

About Microsoft

Microsoft Corporation is a global technology company that develops software, cloud services, devices, gaming products and business solutions. Founded in 1975 by Bill Gates and Paul Allen, the company is best known for the Windows operating system and Microsoft Office productivity software. Microsoft is headquartered in Redmond, Washington, and serves consumers, businesses, governments and educational institutions worldwide.

Microsoft’s productivity and business offerings include Microsoft 365 applications such as Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook, along with collaboration tools including Teams.