Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Up 2% Following Dividend Announcement
by Teresa Graham · The Cerbat GemMicrosoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT – Get Free Report) shares rose 2% during trading on Monday after the company announced a dividend. The company traded as high as $509.95 and last traded at $505.41. 22,933,292 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 36% from the average daily volume of 35,652,461 shares. The stock had previously closed at $495.63.
The newly announced dividend which will be paid on Thursday, December 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 19th will be given a $0.98 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 19th. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.8%. This is a boost from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.91. Microsoft’s payout ratio is currently 20.27%.
Analysts Set New Price Targets
MSFT has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Monday, July 20th. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $540.00 to $550.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 28th. CLSA restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Evercore set a $528.00 price target on Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, Phillip Securities downgraded Microsoft from a “strong-buy” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. Forty-two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $564.27.
Check Out Our Latest Research Report on Microsoft
Microsoft Stock Down 1.6%
The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a current ratio of 1.23. The stock has a market cap of $3.69 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 1.11. The business’s 50 day moving average is $460.39 and its 200 day moving average is $420.90.
Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT – Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The software giant reported $4.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.24 by $0.50. The company had revenue of $90.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $87.62 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 31.98% and a net margin of 40.31%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $3.65 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Microsoft Corporation will post 19.61 earnings per share for the current year.
Key Microsoft News
Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:
- Positive Sentiment: Azure reaches a major milestone: Azure annual revenue surpassed $100 billion, while consumption from agentic AI helped drive approximately 43% year-over-year revenue growth in the latest quarter. The milestone supports the view that Microsoft is converting AI demand into cloud revenue. Azure agentic AI growth article
- Positive Sentiment: Dividend increased: Microsoft raised its quarterly dividend 8% to $0.98 per share, payable December 10 to shareholders of record November 19. The increase signals confidence in cash generation and modestly improves shareholder returns. Microsoft dividend increase
- Positive Sentiment: Analyst outlook remains favorable: Citizens JMP reaffirmed a Market Outperform rating with a $550 price target, citing Microsoft’s cloud and AI opportunity. Recent commentary also points to Copilot adoption and enterprise software strength as long-term catalysts.
- Positive Sentiment: Improved Azure disclosure could support valuation: Microsoft plans to report Azure revenue directly in quarterly results, giving investors greater visibility into whether AI-related infrastructure spending is producing sufficient returns. Microsoft Azure reporting change
- Neutral Sentiment: AI safety strategy: CEO Satya Nadella and Microsoft AI chief Mustafa Suleyman are advocating stronger safeguards and human control over advanced AI. The approach may reduce regulatory and reputational risks, but a slower development pace could raise competitiveness concerns.
- Neutral Sentiment: Stock technically extended: MSFT recently cleared a $466.32 cup-base buy point and is trading well above its 50-day and 200-day moving averages. Strong momentum is constructive, although the distance from the breakout level increases pullback risk.
- Negative Sentiment: Executive selling adds an overhang: EVP Amy Hood sold 41,674 shares for approximately $20.8 million under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan. The scheduled nature of the transaction reduces its signaling value, but it follows a broader pattern of insider sales without reported insider purchases.
- Negative Sentiment: Spending and valuation remain concerns: Investors continue to scrutinize Microsoft’s substantial AI and data-center capital expenditures, while its valuation is higher than some major peers. Recent large-scale security patching also underscores ongoing cybersecurity execution risks.
Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft
In other Microsoft news, EVP Amy Hood sold 41,674 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $498.27, for a total transaction of $20,764,903.98. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 533,624 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $265,888,830.48. The trade was a 7.24% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Judson Althoff sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $487.89, for a total value of $4,878,900.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 100,447 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $49,007,086.83. The trade was a 9.05% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 143,009 shares of company stock worth $71,420,699 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.
Institutional Inflows and Outflows
Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Microsoft by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 717,942,580 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $347,211,391,000 after acquiring an additional 15,955,898 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE bought a new position in shares of Microsoft in the second quarter worth about $27,338,370,000. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its position in Microsoft by 0.9% in the 2nd 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 valued at $24,013,297,000 after buying an additional 543,172 shares during the last quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 56,160.8% in the fourth quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co now owns 60,116,384 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $29,073,486,000 after acquiring an additional 60,009,531 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $18,306,443,000. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
Microsoft Company Profile
Microsoft Corporation is a global technology company that develops software, cloud services, devices and digital solutions for consumers, businesses and public-sector organizations. Its products and services include the Windows operating system, Microsoft 365 productivity applications, Teams collaboration software, Dynamics business applications and Azure cloud computing services.
The company also operates LinkedIn, GitHub and Xbox, which includes gaming consoles, video games and related online services.