Garde Capital Inc. Sells 2,045 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Posted by on Jun 17th, 2023

Garde Capital Inc. trimmed its position in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT – Get Rating) by 1.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 111,732 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 2,045 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for 3.2% of Garde Capital Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 6th biggest holding. Garde Capital Inc.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $26,796,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Monumental Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in Microsoft during the 1st quarter worth approximately $28,000. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Hanseatic Management Services Inc. grew its position in Microsoft by 71.4% during the 3rd quarter. Hanseatic Management Services Inc. now owns 132 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Retirement Financial Solutions LLC purchased a new position in Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth approximately $40,000. Finally, PayPay Securities Corp purchased a new position in Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth approximately $54,000. 69.15% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Microsoft Stock Down 1.7 %

Shares of MSFT opened at $342.33 on Friday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $311.86 and a 200-day simple moving average of $274.16. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.55 trillion, a P/E ratio of 37.09, a P/E/G ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a quick ratio of 1.88 and a current ratio of 1.91. Microsoft Co. has a 52 week low of $213.43 and a 52 week high of $351.47.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT – Get Rating) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 25th. The software giant reported $2.45 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.22 by $0.23. The business had revenue of $52.86 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $51.01 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 33.25% and a return on equity of 38.98%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.22 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 9.65 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 14th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 17th will be paid a $0.68 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, August 16th. This represents a $2.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.79%. Microsoft’s payout ratio is currently 29.47%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have weighed in on MSFT. Macquarie upgraded shares of Microsoft from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $260.00 to $325.00 in a report on Wednesday, April 26th. StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, May 18th. They set a “buy” rating on the stock. DA Davidson boosted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $325.00 to $350.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 26th. BNP Paribas cut shares of Microsoft from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $310.00 to $300.00 in a report on Monday, April 24th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $320.00 to $345.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and thirty-two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $333.23.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In related news, Director Teri List sold 1,250 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $334.77, for a total value of $418,462.50. Following the sale, the director now owns 874 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $292,588.98. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, Director Teri List sold 1,250 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $334.77, for a total value of $418,462.50. Following the sale, the director now owns 874 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $292,588.98. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Judson Althoff sold 30,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $306.09, for a total transaction of $9,182,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 117,456 shares in the company, valued at approximately $35,952,107.04. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 51,331 shares of company stock valued at $15,867,278 over the last quarter. 0.03% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Microsoft Profile

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Microsoft Corporation develops, licenses, and supports software, services, devices, and solutions worldwide. The company operates in three segments: Productivity and Business Processes, Intelligent Cloud, and More Personal Computing. The Productivity and Business Processes segment offers Office, Exchange, SharePoint, Microsoft Teams, Office 365 Security and Compliance, Microsoft Viva, and Skype for Business; Skype, Outlook.com, OneDrive, and LinkedIn; and Dynamics 365, a set of cloud-based and on-premises business solutions for organizations and enterprise divisions.

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Institutional Ownership by Quarter for Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT)

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