Investors Buy Shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) on Weakness Following Insider Selling

Investors bought shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) on weakness during trading on Wednesday after an insider sold shares in the company. $335.00 million flowed into the stock on the tick-up and $214.64 million flowed out of the stock on the tick-down, for a money net flow of $120.36 million into the stock. Of all equities tracked, Microsoft Corporation had the 3rd highest net in-flow for the day. Microsoft Corporation traded down ($0.32) for the day and closed at $72.47Specifically, EVP Christopher C. Capossela sold 4,927 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.75, for a total transaction of $338,731.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 214,080 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,718,000. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Christopher C. Capossela sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.11, for a total transaction of $207,330.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 216,507 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,962,798.77. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 7,060,855 shares of company stock valued at $512,251,908 in the last three months. 2.99% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

MSFT has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $81.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft Corporation in a research note on Friday, April 28th. Morningstar, Inc. reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft Corporation in a research note on Friday, April 28th. Pacific Crest reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $78.00 price objective (up previously from $70.00) on shares of Microsoft Corporation in a research note on Friday, April 28th. Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (The) upped their price objective on shares of Microsoft Corporation from $72.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 28th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $72.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft Corporation in a research note on Thursday, April 20th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and twenty-seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Microsoft Corporation currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $76.15.

The firm has a market capitalization of $550.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.35 and a beta of 1.01. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $71.64 and a 200-day moving average of $67.88.

Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 20th. The software giant reported $0.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the Thomson Reuters’ consensus estimate of $0.71 by $0.27. Microsoft Corporation had a return on equity of 36.81% and a net margin of 23.57%. The firm had revenue of $24.70 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $24.29 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.69 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that Microsoft Corporation will post $3.22 EPS for the current year.

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 14th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 17th will be given a $0.39 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 15th. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.18%. Microsoft Corporation’s payout ratio is 57.78%.

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Hefty Wealth Partners increased its position in shares of Microsoft Corporation by 65.6% in the second quarter. Hefty Wealth Partners now owns 1,648 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $113,000 after buying an additional 653 shares during the last quarter. Asset Planning Services Ltd. increased its position in shares of Microsoft Corporation by 93.0% in the first quarter. Asset Planning Services Ltd. now owns 1,737 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $114,000 after buying an additional 837 shares during the last quarter. Ullmann Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft Corporation during the first quarter valued at about $132,000. Stelac Advisory Services LLC increased its position in shares of Microsoft Corporation by 23.5% in the second quarter. Stelac Advisory Services LLC now owns 2,033 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $140,000 after buying an additional 387 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pacific Center for Financial Services acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft Corporation during the fourth quarter valued at about $155,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 72.86% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Corporation Company Profile

Microsoft Corporation is a technology company. The Company develops, licenses, and supports a range of software products, services and devices. The Company’s segments include Productivity and Business Processes, Intelligent Cloud and More Personal Computing. The Company’s products include operating systems; cross-device productivity applications; server applications; business solution applications; desktop and server management tools; software development tools; video games, and training and certification of computer system integrators and developers.