Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Raises Dividend to $0.83 Per Share

Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) announced a quarterly dividend on Monday, September 16th,Wall Street Journal reports. Investors of record on Thursday, November 21st will be paid a dividend of 0.83 per share by the software giant on Thursday, December 12th. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.80%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. This is a boost from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75.

Microsoft has raised its dividend payment by an average of 10.1% annually over the last three years and has raised its dividend annually for the last 23 consecutive years. Microsoft has a dividend payout ratio of 25.3% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Microsoft to earn $14.80 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $3.32 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 22.4%.

Microsoft Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of MSFT stock opened at $415.76 on Tuesday. Microsoft has a 1-year low of $362.90 and a 1-year high of $468.35. The firm has a market cap of $3.09 trillion, a PE ratio of 34.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a 50-day moving average of $422.54 and a two-hundred day moving average of $426.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.30 and a quick ratio of 1.29.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.10 by $0.20. The firm had revenue of $65.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $64.57 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.61% and a return on equity of 34.56%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.99 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Microsoft will post 12.94 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback plan on Monday, September 16th that permits the company to repurchase $60.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the software giant to purchase up to 1.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently issued reports on MSFT. UBS Group decreased their target price on Microsoft from $510.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $506.00 to $548.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Sanford C. Bernstein cut their target price on shares of Microsoft from $501.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Wedbush reissued an “underperform” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $470.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and twenty-six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $503.03.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 40,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $402.59, for a total transaction of $16,103,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 544,847 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $219,349,953.73. This represents a 6.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Christopher David Young sold 7,200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $423.66, for a total transaction of $3,050,352.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 103,366 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $43,792,039.56. This trade represents a 6.51 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 197,829 shares of company stock valued at $80,966,837. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Microsoft

An institutional investor recently raised its position in Microsoft stock. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. grew its position in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 0.3% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 12,658 shares of the software giant’s stock after buying an additional 38 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up about 1.7% of Ironwood Wealth Management LLC.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 22nd largest holding. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $5,658,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.