Microsoft Sees Unusually Large Options Volume (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) was the recipient of some unusual options trading activity on Wednesday. Investors acquired 495,697 call options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 53% compared to the typical daily volume of 323,886 call options.

Microsoft Stock Performance

MSFT stock traded up $5.13 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $414.77. 23,919,757 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 22,323,854. The company has a market cap of $3.08 trillion, a PE ratio of 33.40, a P/E/G ratio of 2.17 and a beta of 0.90. Microsoft has a 1 year low of $385.58 and a 1 year high of $468.35. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $427.33 and its 200 day simple moving average is $422.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 1.34.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The software giant reported $3.23 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.15 by $0.08. Microsoft had a return on equity of 33.36% and a net margin of 35.43%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.93 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Microsoft will post 13.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be paid a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.80%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.73%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $417.00, for a total value of $10,425,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 117,294 shares in the company, valued at $48,911,598. The trade was a 17.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $423.48, for a total transaction of $423,480.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer now owns 56,511 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,931,278.28. This represents a 1.74 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 34,000 shares of company stock valued at $14,333,540. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Microsoft

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Blue Sky Capital Consultants Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth approximately $4,558,000. Three Cord True Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at about $510,000. Warm Springs Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at about $5,849,000. Richmond Investment Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,187,000. Finally, Columbia River Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,691,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently issued reports on MSFT. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on Microsoft from $540.00 to $530.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Sanford C. Bernstein cut their price target on Microsoft from $501.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 25th. Guggenheim restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Friday, January 24th. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $520.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, TD Cowen dropped their price objective on Microsoft from $495.00 to $475.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $510.96.

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.