Emma Walmsley, a director at Microsoft (MSFT), recently bought 3,300 shares. The buy increased her stake by nearly 60 percent, and came to a total price of just over $1 million.
This is the first insider buy at the tech conglomerate in nearly a year. over the past three years, company insiders, who are beneficiaries of stock options, have been regular sellers of shares, even as the stock has continued to soar higher.
Overall, insiders own 0.06 percent of the company.
The mega-cap stock outperformed the S&P 500 by 10 points in the past year. Earnings and revenue have grown at just over 20 percent, and the company has an impressive 39 percent profit margin across various segments of tech, from software to video games to social media.
Action to take: Microsoft yields just 0.8 percent, but has a low payout ratio and has been a solid dividend growth play. So this is a perfect stock for investors to buy on any large market dip like the recent correction.
For traders, shares are likely to return to their long-term trend when the current market fears settle down. The July $350 calls, last going for about $8.50, can likely reward traders with mid-to-high double-digit gains on a sharp rebound, even for traders who close out well before expiration.
Disclosure: The author of this article has a position in the company mentioned here, and may further trade after the next 72 hours. The author receives no compensation from any of the companies mentioned in this article.