Sara Bay Financial Trims Stock Position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Posted by Defense World Staff on Oct 3rd, 2023

Sara Bay Financial cut its holdings in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT – Free Report) by 14.7% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,661 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 287 shares during the quarter. Sara Bay Financial’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $566,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Sightline Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Microsoft by 0.9% in the 2nd quarter. Sightline Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,337 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $962,000 after purchasing an additional 29 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL lifted its stake in Microsoft by 0.8% in the 1st quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL now owns 4,208 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $1,213,000 after purchasing an additional 32 shares during the last quarter. Arbor Capital Management Inc. ADV lifted its stake in Microsoft by 0.5% in the 1st quarter. Arbor Capital Management Inc. ADV now owns 7,166 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $2,074,000 after purchasing an additional 33 shares during the last quarter. Affiance Financial LLC lifted its stake in Microsoft by 0.3% in the 1st quarter. Affiance Financial LLC now owns 10,362 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $2,988,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Henrickson Nauta Wealth Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in Microsoft by 1.3% in the 1st quarter. Henrickson Nauta Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 2,898 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $835,000 after acquiring an additional 36 shares during the period. 69.20% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Microsoft Stock Performance

NASDAQ MSFT opened at $321.80 on Tuesday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $326.57 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $318.77. The stock has a market cap of $2.39 trillion, a PE ratio of 33.21, a PEG ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 0.91. Microsoft Co. has a fifty-two week low of $213.43 and a fifty-two week high of $366.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a current ratio of 1.77.

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

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 14th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 16th will be paid a $0.75 dividend. This is a boost from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 15th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.93%. Microsoft’s payout ratio is currently 28.07%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have weighed in on MSFT shares. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Microsoft from $336.00 to $425.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 19th. Argus increased their price target on shares of Microsoft from $371.00 to $390.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 31st. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $400.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a report on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $400.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a report on Monday. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on shares of Microsoft from $320.00 to $380.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 20th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $376.34.

Read Our Latest Research Report on MSFT

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 26,815 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $327.37, for a total value of $8,778,426.55. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 198,373 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $64,941,369.01. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 38,234 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $328.43, for a total value of $12,557,192.62. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 800,668 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $262,963,391.24. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 26,815 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $327.37, for a total transaction of $8,778,426.55. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 198,373 shares in the company, valued at approximately $64,941,369.01. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 115,049 shares of company stock valued at $38,195,619 over the last 90 days. 0.03% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.