Short Interest in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Expands By 20.1%

Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest in August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totalling 65,800,000 shares, an increase of 20.1% from the August 15th total of 54,790,000 shares. Currently, 0.9% of the company’s shares are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 19,700,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.3 days.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of MSFT traded up $3.81 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $435.15. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 18,818,007 shares, compared to its average volume of 20,548,438. The company has a current ratio of 1.27, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. Microsoft has a 1-year low of $309.45 and a 1-year high of $468.35. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.23 trillion, a P/E ratio of 37.68, a P/E/G ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 0.90. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $422.31 and a 200 day simple moving average of $423.73.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $2.95 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.90 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $64.73 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $64.38 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 35.95% and a net margin of 35.96%. Microsoft’s quarterly revenue was up 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.69 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Microsoft will post 13.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be issued a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. This is a boost from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.76%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 25.97%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have commented on MSFT. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $506.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a report on Tuesday. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Microsoft from $500.00 to $515.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Tigress Financial lifted their price target on Microsoft from $475.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, June 13th. Argus increased their price objective on Microsoft from $475.00 to $526.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. Finally, UBS Group decreased their target price on Microsoft from $520.00 to $510.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-two have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $494.72.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Microsoft news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 14,398 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $417.41, for a total transaction of $6,009,869.18. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 786,933 shares in the company, valued at $328,473,703.53. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Microsoft news, CFO Amy Hood sold 38,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $410.55, for a total transaction of $15,600,900.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 496,369 shares in the company, valued at approximately $203,784,292.95. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Satya Nadella sold 14,398 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $417.41, for a total value of $6,009,869.18. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 786,933 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $328,473,703.53. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 190,629 shares of company stock valued at $77,916,485. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Microsoft

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of MSFT. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc grew its holdings in Microsoft by 169.2% in the second quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 70 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP acquired a new position in Microsoft during the second quarter worth about $45,000. Neo Ivy Capital Management acquired a new position in Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth about $58,000. Richardson Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 1,290.0% in the first quarter. Richardson Capital Management LLC now owns 139 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $59,000 after purchasing an additional 129 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Innealta Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the second quarter valued at approximately $75,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

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.