Stokes Capital Advisors LLC cut its holdings in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT – Free Report) by 11.9% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 34,039 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 4,609 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up approximately 3.9% of Stokes Capital Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest holding. Stokes Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $11,592,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.
Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Monumental Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the first quarter valued at about $28,000. Gleason Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 111.7% in the first quarter. Gleason Group Inc. now owns 199 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $57,000 after purchasing an additional 105 shares in the last quarter. Syverson Strege & Co lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 157.0% in the first quarter. Syverson Strege & Co now owns 203 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $58,000 after purchasing an additional 124 shares in the last quarter. MayTech Global Investments LLC bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at about $83,000. Finally, Beutel Goodman & Co Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 57.5% in the third quarter. Beutel Goodman & Co Ltd. now owns 411 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $95,000 after purchasing an additional 150 shares in the last quarter. 69.20% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.
Microsoft Trading Down 0.8 %
Shares of NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $317.01 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.36 trillion, a P/E ratio of 32.72, a P/E/G ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 0.90. Microsoft Co. has a 1 year low of $213.43 and a 1 year high of $366.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 1.77 and a quick ratio of 1.75. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $330.61 and its 200 day simple moving average is $315.53.
Microsoft Increases Dividend
The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 14th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 16th will be issued a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.95%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 15th. This is an increase from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 28.07%.
Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft
In other Microsoft news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 50,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $337.20, for a total value of $16,860,000.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 588,084 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $198,301,924.80. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 38,234 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $328.43, for a total transaction of $12,557,192.62. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 800,668 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $262,963,391.24. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 50,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 588,084 shares in the company, valued at approximately $198,301,924.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 115,049 shares of company stock valued at $38,195,619. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.
Analysts Set New Price Targets
A number of research firms recently issued reports on MSFT. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their target price on Microsoft from $398.00 to $400.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday. TD Cowen lifted their target price on Microsoft from $330.00 to $390.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 19th. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $410.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday, July 28th. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “sell” rating and issued a $232.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, July 20th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on Microsoft from $340.00 to $380.00 in a research report on Tuesday, May 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and thirty-four have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Microsoft has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $375.03.
View Our Latest Analysis on Microsoft
Microsoft Company Profile
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.
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