Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) is Beese Fulmer Investment Management Inc.’s 2nd Largest Position

Posted by Defense World Staff on Sep 23rd, 2023

Beese Fulmer Investment Management Inc. decreased its holdings in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT – Free Report) by 2.5% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 133,371 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 3,380 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up approximately 4.9% of Beese Fulmer Investment Management Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest position. Beese Fulmer Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $45,418,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MSFT. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.8% in the 1st quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL now owns 4,208 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,213,000 after purchasing an additional 32 shares during the period. Arbor Capital Management Inc. ADV grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 0.5% in the first quarter. Arbor Capital Management Inc. ADV now owns 7,166 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $2,074,000 after buying an additional 33 shares in the last quarter. Affiance Financial LLC grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 0.3% in the first quarter. Affiance Financial LLC now owns 10,362 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $2,988,000 after buying an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Henrickson Nauta Wealth Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 1.3% in the first quarter. Henrickson Nauta Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 2,898 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $835,000 after buying an additional 36 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Forbes Financial Planning Inc. grew its stake in Microsoft by 2.0% during the 1st quarter. Forbes Financial Planning Inc. now owns 1,845 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $532,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.20% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on MSFT shares. Guggenheim restated a “sell” rating and set a $232.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, July 20th. Raymond James raised their price target on Microsoft from $320.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, July 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on Microsoft from $350.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 21st. Mizuho raised their price target on Microsoft from $360.00 to $390.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 17th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $336.00 to $425.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 19th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and thirty-four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Microsoft currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $375.03.

Read Our Latest Stock Analysis on MSFT

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Microsoft news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 26,815 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $327.37, for a total transaction of $8,778,426.55. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 198,373 shares in the company, valued at $64,941,369.01. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other Microsoft news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 26,815 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $327.37, for a total transaction of $8,778,426.55. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 198,373 shares in the company, valued at $64,941,369.01. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 50,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $337.20, for a total value of $16,860,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 588,084 shares in the company, valued at $198,301,924.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 115,049 shares of company stock worth $38,195,619. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Price Performance

MSFT opened at $317.01 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $331.18 and a 200-day moving average of $315.11. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.36 trillion, a P/E ratio of 32.72, a PEG ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 0.90. Microsoft Co. has a 12-month low of $213.43 and a 12-month high of $366.78. The company has a quick ratio of 1.75, a current ratio of 1.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT – Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 25th. The software giant reported $2.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.55 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $56.19 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $55.49 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 38.70% and a net margin of 34.15%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.23 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 10.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 14th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.95%. This is a positive change from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 15th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 28.07%.

Microsoft Profile

(Free Report)

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.