Microsoft's CEO and CMO sell insider shares as Purus Wealth Management LLC reduces holdings‍

A financial advisory and investment management company, Purus Wealth Management LLC, has reduced the size of its holdings in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT). During the fourth quarter of 2017, Purus reported that it had sold 361 shares of Microsoft Corporation stock, representing a decrease of 3.8% in its holdings, as indicated in the company's most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Currently, the institutional investor owns 9,175 shares of Microsoft stock, which is worth $2.2 million dollars as of the end of the quarter of Q4. According to Purus Wealth Management LLC, Microsoft makes up two percent of its portfolio, which is ranked as the 16th largest investment in its portfolio, making it the 16th most significant.

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It has been announced that Microsoft Corporation is planning on releasing an upcoming quarterly dividend payment on June 6th, so investors will be watching for that announcement. In response to the current payout ratio of approximately 30%, the tech giant has declared that it will pay out a dividend rate of $0.68 per share, which means the company will have a yearly distribution of $2.72 per share by the end of the year. In the case of the upcoming dividends, the ex-dividend date is May 17.

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Furthermore, there have been several changes involving insiders’ holdings in the company. CEO Satya Nadella recently sold approximately 4,767 shares in February, resulting in a substantial decrease in insider holdings. This sale transaction resulted in him pocketing an average price of $248.88 amounting to over one million dollars ($1,186,410) by the end of this year. A total of 789 thousand shares of the company are now held by the chief executive officer, which amounts to a total stock market value of over 200 million dollars ($196,272,990).

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In addition to this, the Chief Marketing Officer Christopher C. Capossela's recent sale was also on the market. He sold about one thousand shares at approximately $269 each on Thursday February 9th, a price that was just shy of USD270K ($269,380) per share. Although Mr. Capossela was able to sell the stock, he still owns over a hundred seventeen thousand shares worth just under thirty-one million dollars ($31,614,975), worth around one million dollars.

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During the last three months, there have been two instances of insider activity involving Microsoft Corporation, which resulted in the sale of a total of $1.72 million in stock, which represents around 0.03 percent of the entire stock market value.

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Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) is one of the most heavily traded companies in the world. Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently purchased new shares and raised their existing stakes, respectively. For example, Monumental Financial Group Inc. acquired $28,000 of Microsoft shares recently, while Hanseatic Management Services Inc. recently acquired 55 new shares in Microsoft, which increased its stake in Microsoft by 71.4% over the same period.

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There's no question that institutional investors and hedge funds are very enthusiastic about MSFT and are willing to invest heavily into the company, with Morgan Dempsey Capital Management LLC purchasing a $982,000 position just last year. Over two-thirds of the all-shares of Microsoft are owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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Recently, several brokerages have released reports about Microsoft. Fundamental Research has reduced their target price from $269.73 to $259.47, but they have reaffirmed their "buy" rating. In contrast, Oppenheimer is now offering the stock at a target price of $280.00 as well as rating it as an "outperformer." Credit Suisse Group also sets a target price of $285.00 on Microsoft, while Wells Fargo & Company has raised it to $320.00 and given it an "overweight" rating.

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According to the data compiled by Trade Algo, according to the consensus of analysts, Microsoft has a moderate buy rating on average, with an average target price of almost $290 per share according to the data gathered by Trade Algo.

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Microsoft recently announced its quarterly dividend payout schedule, which was the most compelling reason to invest in the company right now as if all these reasons were not enough. The company will be paying a generous annualized dividend of $2.72 per share to shareholders starting June 1st, a rate that is sure to make investors happy in the current economic climate.

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There were no significant changes to the price of Microsoft shares on Tuesday, with the stock opening at $287.23 and the company having a 12-month low of $113.43 along with a 12-month high of $315.11. Microsoft is currently valued at $2.14 trillion with a P/E ratio of 31,91 and a beta of 0.92 at the moment.

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There were two things that Microsoft announced in January this year that were ahead of the consensus estimate by 0.05: firstly EPS for Q2 was $2.32, exceeding the consensus estimate by $0.04, and secondly revenue totaled $52.75 billion for the quarter, beating analyst expectations of $53.17 billion, a 17 point difference.

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This is all clear evidence that Microsoft is still in a good position as a company to invest in with confidence – indeed, Microsoft seems likely to continue to innovate and expand its already impressive suite of products and services for a long time to come as the tech giant continues to innovate and expand its already impressive product portfolio.