Boston Common Asset Management LLC lowered its stake in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT – Free Report) by 5.2% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 109,580 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 5,994 shares during the quarter. Boston Common Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $37,316,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Monumental Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in Microsoft in the first quarter worth $28,000. Gleason Group Inc. grew its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 105 shares during the period. Syverson Strege & Co raised its position in shares of 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 during the period. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 39.0% during the 2nd quarter. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 303 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $103,000 after purchasing an additional 85 shares during the period. Finally, Alapocas Investment Partners Inc. bought a new position in shares of Microsoft during the first quarter worth $97,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.20% of the company’s stock.
Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth
Several analysts recently weighed in on MSFT shares. Guggenheim upgraded Microsoft from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, September 25th. Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $340.00 to $405.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 19th. Mizuho upped their target price on Microsoft from $360.00 to $390.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 17th. Redburn Partners decreased their target price on shares of Microsoft from $450.00 to $440.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 11th. Finally, Argus lifted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $371.00 to $390.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 31st. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-five have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $378.11.
Microsoft Trading Up 0.4 %
MSFT opened at $330.53 on Wednesday. Microsoft Co. has a one year low of $213.43 and a one year high of $366.78. The company has a market cap of $2.46 trillion, a P/E ratio of 34.11, a PEG ratio of 2.41 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. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $325.78 and its 200-day simple moving average is $323.97.
Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT – Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 24th. The software giant reported $2.99 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.65 by $0.34. Microsoft had a return on equity of 38.70% and a net margin of 34.15%. The business had revenue of $56.52 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $54.52 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.35 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 10.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.
Microsoft Increases Dividend
The business also recently declared 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 15th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.91%. This is a positive change from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 28.07%.
Insider Buying and Selling
In related news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 50,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $337.20, for a total transaction of $16,860,000.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 588,084 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $198,301,924.80. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 50,000 shares of the firm’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 transaction of $16,860,000.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 588,084 shares in the company, valued at $198,301,924.80. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, 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 transaction of $8,778,426.55. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 198,373 shares in the company, valued at $64,941,369.01. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 115,049 shares of company stock valued at $38,195,619 over the last three months. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.
Microsoft 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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