Cornerstone Advisory LLC Sells 3,266 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Posted by Defense World Staff on Oct 17th, 2023

Cornerstone Advisory LLC lowered its position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT – Free Report) by 9.4% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 31,561 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 3,266 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for about 1.9% of Cornerstone Advisory LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 15th largest position. Cornerstone Advisory LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $10,748,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Monumental Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Microsoft during the 1st quarter worth approximately $28,000. Gleason Group Inc. increased its holdings in Microsoft by 111.7% during the 1st 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 increased its holdings in Microsoft by 157.0% during the 1st 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 acquired a new stake in Microsoft during the 4th quarter valued at $83,000. Finally, Beutel Goodman & Co Ltd. increased its holdings in Microsoft by 57.5% during the 3rd 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. Institutional investors own 69.20% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Price Performance

NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $332.64 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $324.95 and its 200 day simple moving average is $322.21. The company has a market cap of $2.47 trillion, a P/E ratio of 34.33, a P/E/G ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 0.91. 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 Co. has a 52-week low of $213.43 and a 52-week high of $366.78.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT – Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly 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 the consensus estimate of $55.49 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 38.70% and a net margin of 34.15%. The business’s revenue was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.23 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 10.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 14th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 16th will be given a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.90%. 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 payout ratio is 30.96%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MSFT has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Tigress Financial raised their price target on Microsoft from $411.00 to $433.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $390.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a report on Friday, September 22nd. Rosenblatt Securities raised their price target on Microsoft from $360.00 to $370.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday. 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 note on Wednesday, September 20th. Finally, Redburn Partners lowered their target price on Microsoft from $450.00 to $440.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 11th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-four have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $376.61.

Read Our Latest Research Report on MSFT

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 50,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the insider now owns 588,084 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $198,301,924.80. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 26,815 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $327.37, for a total value of $8,778,426.55. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 198,373 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $64,941,369.01. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 50,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, 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. 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 currently 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.