Monte Financial Group LLC cut its holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT – Free Report) by 9.6% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 9,440 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 1,001 shares during the period. Monte Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $3,215,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.
A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Mathes Company Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the second quarter valued at approximately $6,355,000. Hartford Funds Management Co LLC raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 9.9% in the second quarter. Hartford Funds Management Co LLC now owns 8,929 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $3,041,000 after purchasing an additional 808 shares during the last quarter. Onyx Bridge Wealth Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 63.4% in the second quarter. Onyx Bridge Wealth Group LLC now owns 12,097 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $4,119,000 after buying an additional 4,693 shares in the last quarter. Stapp Wealth Management Pllc bought a new position in shares of Microsoft in the second quarter valued at $230,000. Finally, United Asset Strategies Inc. grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 1.2% in the second quarter. United Asset Strategies Inc. now owns 89,264 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $30,398,000 after buying an additional 1,057 shares in the last quarter. 69.20% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
Analysts Set New Price Targets
Several research firms recently weighed in on MSFT. HSBC raised shares of Microsoft from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the company from $347.00 to $413.00 in a research note on Thursday. UBS Group raised shares of Microsoft from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the company from $345.00 to $400.00 in a research note on Friday, July 14th. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $400.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday, October 25th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of Microsoft from $320.00 to $380.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 20th. Finally, Guggenheim raised shares of Microsoft from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, September 25th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-five have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Microsoft presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $384.34.
Insider Transactions at Microsoft
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 transaction of $8,778,426.55. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 50,000 shares of the 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 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 26,815 shares of the 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 198,373 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $64,941,369.01. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 115,049 shares of company stock valued at $38,195,619 over the last ninety days. 0.03% of the stock is owned by company insiders.
Microsoft Stock Performance
Shares of MSFT stock opened at $329.81 on Monday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $326.68 and its 200 day simple moving average is $324.68. Microsoft Co. has a one year low of $213.43 and a one year high of $366.78. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.45 trillion, a PE ratio of 31.93, a PEG ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a current ratio of 1.66 and a quick ratio of 1.75.
Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT – Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 24th. The software giant reported $2.99 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.65 by $0.34. The firm had revenue of $56.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $54.52 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 38.79% and a net margin of 35.31%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.35 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 11.11 earnings per share for the current year.
Microsoft Increases Dividend
The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 14th. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 0.91%. This is a positive change from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 15th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is presently 26.33%.
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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