First Fiduciary Investment Counsel Inc. Cuts Stock Position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Posted by Defense World Staff on Oct 22nd, 2023

First Fiduciary Investment Counsel Inc. decreased its position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT – Free Report) by 5.0% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 96,164 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 5,048 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises 7.1% of First Fiduciary Investment Counsel Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its biggest position. First Fiduciary Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $32,748,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Monumental Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in Microsoft in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Gleason Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 111.7% during the 1st quarter. Gleason Group Inc. now owns 199 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $57,000 after purchasing an additional 105 shares in the last quarter. Syverson Strege & Co raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 157.0% during the 1st quarter. Syverson Strege & Co now owns 203 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $58,000 after purchasing an additional 124 shares in the last quarter. MayTech Global Investments LLC bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth approximately $83,000. Finally, Beutel Goodman & Co Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 57.5% during the 3rd quarter. Beutel Goodman & Co Ltd. now owns 411 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $95,000 after purchasing an additional 150 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 69.20% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on MSFT shares. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $400.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Monday, October 16th. KeyCorp boosted their target price on Microsoft from $340.00 to $400.00 in a report on Tuesday, July 18th. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their target price on Microsoft from $398.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $385.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Friday, September 22nd. Finally, Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $400.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, September 21st. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $378.11.

Read Our Latest Report on MSFT

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of MSFT stock opened at $326.67 on Friday. 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 Co. has a twelve month low of $213.43 and a twelve month high of $366.78. The company has a market cap of $2.43 trillion, a P/E ratio of 33.71, a P/E/G ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 0.91. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $325.50 and a 200 day simple moving average of $323.16.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT – Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 25th. The software giant reported $2.69 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.55 by $0.14. The business had revenue of $56.19 billion during 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%. Microsoft’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.23 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 10.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 14th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 16th will be given a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 15th. This is an increase from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.92%. 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 stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 588,084 shares in the company, valued at $198,301,924.80. The transaction was disclosed in a filing 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 stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of 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 available at this link. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 50,000 shares of the 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 completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 588,084 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $198,301,924.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 115,049 shares of company stock worth $38,195,619. 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.