Insider Selling: Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) CEO Sells 10,000 Shares

August 7, 2026 by InsiderTrades.com

Key Points

Microsoft CEO Judson Althoff sold 10,000 shares at an average price of $487.89, generating approximately $4.9 million. The transaction reduced his direct holdings by 9.05% to 100,447 shares.
Microsoft reported strong quarterly results, with revenue of $90.01 billion and earnings of $4.74 per share, both exceeding analyst expectations; revenue rose 17.7% year over year.
Analysts remain broadly positive, with 42 Buy ratings, five Holds and a consensus price target of $558.87. The company also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.91 per share, equivalent to a 0.7% yield.

Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) CEO Judson Althoff sold 10,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $487.89, for a total transaction of $4,878,900.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 100,447 shares in the company, valued at approximately $49,007,086.83. The trade was a 9.05% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link.

Buy the Dip or Run: 3 Software Stocks Down 50% Face Their Moment of Truth

Judson Althoff also recently made the following trade(s):

On Monday, June 1st, Judson Althoff sold 15,500 shares of Microsoft stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $460.99, for a total transaction of $7,145,345.00.

Microsoft Trading Up 2.5%

Shares of NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $499.86 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $403.86 and a 200-day moving average of $406.31. The firm has a market cap of $3.71 trillion, a P/E ratio of 27.83, a P/E/G ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.11. Microsoft Corporation has a twelve month low of $349.20 and a twelve month high of $553.72. The company has a current ratio of 1.23, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07.

No Hangover: Revisiting Microsoft One Week After Earnings

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 29th. The software giant reported $4.74 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $4.24 by $0.50. Microsoft had a net margin of 40.31% and a return on equity of 31.98%. The business had revenue of $90.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $87.62 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $3.65 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 17.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that Microsoft Corporation will post 19.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 20th will be paid a dividend of $0.91 per share. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 20th. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 20.27%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

3 Stocks That Prove the AI Trade Isn't Over, It Moved

A number of analysts have recently commented on MSFT shares. Truist Financial reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $575.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday, July 22nd. Mizuho lowered their target price on Microsoft from $515.00 to $490.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $625.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Dbs Bank cut their price target on shares of Microsoft from $678.00 to $573.00 in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane cut their price target on shares of Microsoft from $556.00 to $555.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 1st. Forty-two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Microsoft presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $558.87.

View Our Latest Analysis on MSFT

Microsoft News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

Positive Sentiment: Azure and AI growth are the main catalysts. Azure revenue surpassed $100 billion for fiscal 2026, while fourth-quarter cloud revenue increased 43%. Microsoft also exceeded quarterly revenue and earnings expectations, supporting optimism that AI demand is translating into recurring cloud and enterprise revenue. Microsoft Azure Fiscal 2026 Sales Exceed $100B
Positive Sentiment: Microsoft is expanding its AI infrastructure footprint in India. The company opened its largest Indian data-center hub in Hyderabad and signed early customers including Adani Group and HDFC Bank. Microsoft has committed approximately $20.5 billion to its Indian operations, positioning Azure for growth in a large and rapidly developing market. Microsoft Opens Its Largest India Data Center Hub
Positive Sentiment: Wall Street remains constructive. Analysts have raised price targets, including Tigress Financial’s $690 target, citing durable AI and cloud growth. Microsoft’s strong balance sheet, recurring software revenue and approximately $0.91 quarterly dividend also provide support for the long-term investment case. Tigress Raises Microsoft Price Target
Neutral Sentiment: OpenAI is a significant growth engine but also a concentration risk. Reports estimate that OpenAI may account for roughly 70% of Microsoft’s AI revenue. The relationship boosts near-term demand, but reliance on one partner could increase volatility if economics, technology preferences or customer concentration change. OpenAI May Account for 70 Percent of Microsoft AI Revenue
Negative Sentiment: Insider selling and legal notices may temper sentiment. CEO Judson Althoff sold 10,000 shares worth about $4.9 million, following EVP Takeshi Numoto’s sale of approximately $2.4 million. Multiple law firms are also promoting a securities class action with an August 11 lead-plaintiff deadline. These items do not establish wrongdoing, but they can add near-term headline pressure.
Negative Sentiment: AI investment is increasing execution and margin risks. Large data-center commitments and infrastructure spending are necessary to support demand, but could pressure free cash flow and margins if capacity is built ahead of revenue or component shortages delay deployments. Microsoft’s valuation also leaves less room for disappointment after its sharp rally.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Microsoft

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 51.3% in the second quarter. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC now owns 59 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Shepherd Kaplan Krochuk LLC increased its position in Microsoft by 4.9% during the 3rd quarter. Shepherd Kaplan Krochuk LLC now owns 431 shares of the software giant's stock worth $223,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Better Money Decisions LLC increased its position in Microsoft by 0.6% during the 2nd quarter. Better Money Decisions LLC now owns 3,498 shares of the software giant's stock worth $1,740,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares in the last quarter. Endowment Wealth Management Inc. raised its stake in Microsoft by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Endowment Wealth Management Inc. now owns 5,251 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $2,720,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pollock Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in Microsoft by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Pollock Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,805 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $1,453,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Microsoft Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

Microsoft Corporation is a global technology company headquartered in Redmond, Washington. Founded in 1975 by Bill Gates and Paul Allen, Microsoft develops, licenses and supports a broad range of software products, services and devices for consumers, enterprises and governments worldwide. Its operations span personal computing, productivity software, cloud infrastructure, enterprise applications, developer tools and gaming.

Microsoft's product portfolio includes the Windows operating system and the Microsoft 365 suite of productivity and collaboration tools (Office apps, Outlook, Teams).