Microsoft Sees Unusually Large Options Volume (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) was the target of unusually large options trading on Friday. Stock traders bought 415,155 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 35% compared to the typical daily volume of 306,651 call options.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 1,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $414.72, for a total transaction of $414,720.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 57,511 shares in the company, valued at $23,850,961.92. The trade was a 1.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $417.00, for a total value of $10,425,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 117,294 shares of the company's stock, valued at $48,911,598. This represents a 17.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 41,200 shares of company stock worth $17,383,892. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Microsoft

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of MSFT. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter worth about $38,000. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 35.7% during the third quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 95 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. IFS Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 53.8% in the fourth quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 100 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 35 shares during the period. Quarry LP bought a new position in Microsoft in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $45,000. Finally, Avondale Wealth Management lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 144.4% during the fourth quarter. Avondale Wealth Management now owns 110 shares of the software giant's stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have weighed in on the stock. UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $525.00 to $510.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Piper Sandler reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $520.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Monday, January 27th. StockNews.com upgraded Microsoft from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on Microsoft from $500.00 to $495.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price target on Microsoft from $515.00 to $500.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Microsoft has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $510.96.

Microsoft Trading Down 1.0 %

MSFT stock traded down $4.14 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $410.92. The company's stock had a trading volume of 25,559,401 shares, compared to its average volume of 23,243,521. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $432.53 and its 200-day simple moving average is $424.44. The stock has a market cap of $3.05 trillion, a PE ratio of 33.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.90. Microsoft has a 52 week low of $385.58 and a 52 week high of $468.35. The company has a quick ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The software giant reported $3.23 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.15 by $0.08. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.43% and a return on equity of 33.36%. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.93 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Microsoft will post 13.03 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The business 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 $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.81%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. Microsoft's payout ratio is presently 26.73%.

About Microsoft

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.