Michael S. Ryan Inc. Has $1.75 Million Stock Holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Michael S. Ryan Inc. decreased its holdings in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 3.4% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,150 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 147 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up about 1.4% of Michael S. Ryan Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 14th largest position. Michael S. Ryan Inc.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $1,746,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Friedenthal Financial bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the 4th quarter worth $45,000. Neo Ivy Capital Management bought a new position in Microsoft during the fourth quarter valued at about $58,000. PayPay Securities Corp grew its position in Microsoft by 23.7% during the fourth quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 188 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $71,000 after buying an additional 36 shares during the period. Cooksen Wealth LLC bought a new position in Microsoft during the fourth quarter valued at about $86,000. Finally, Kathleen S. Wright Associates Inc. grew its position in Microsoft by 160.7% during the fourth quarter. Kathleen S. Wright Associates Inc. now owns 232 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $87,000 after buying an additional 143 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of MSFT opened at $446.34 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $418.59 and its 200 day simple moving average is $405.81. The company has a market capitalization of $3.32 trillion, a P/E ratio of 38.64, a P/E/G ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a current ratio of 1.24 and a quick ratio of 1.23. Microsoft Co. has a 1-year low of $309.45 and a 1-year high of $450.94.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The software giant reported $2.94 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.81 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $61.86 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $60.86 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 36.43% and a return on equity of 37.54%. Microsoft’s quarterly revenue was up 17.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.45 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 11.77 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 15th will be paid a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.67%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 15th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is currently 25.97%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $425.68, for a total transaction of $10,642,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 104,949 shares in the company, valued at $44,674,690.32. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Microsoft news, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $425.68, for a total transaction of $10,642,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 104,949 shares in the company, valued at $44,674,690.32. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 322 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $416.60, for a total transaction of $134,145.20. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer now owns 47,255 shares in the company, valued at $19,686,433. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 25,566 shares of company stock worth $10,877,535 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently weighed in on MSFT. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and set a $500.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday, May 22nd. DA Davidson restated a “buy” rating and set a $500.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday, March 15th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on shares of Microsoft from $465.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 1st. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of Microsoft from $455.00 to $465.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 12th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price target on shares of Microsoft from $465.00 to $489.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-three have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $465.83.

About Microsoft

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.