Flower City Capital Lowers Position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Flower City Capital decreased its stake in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 9.1% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,952 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 296 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises about 0.8% of Flower City Capital’s holdings, making the stock its 12th largest position. Flower City Capital’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $1,242,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of MSFT. Friedenthal Financial purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at about $45,000. Neo Ivy Capital Management bought a new stake in Microsoft in the 4th quarter worth about $58,000. PayPay Securities Corp increased its stake in Microsoft by 23.7% in the 4th 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 last quarter. Cooksen Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth approximately $86,000. Finally, Kathleen S. Wright Associates Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 160.7% in the 4th quarter. Kathleen S. Wright Associates Inc. now owns 232 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $87,000 after buying an additional 143 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of MSFT opened at $446.95 on Monday. Microsoft Co. has a 12-month low of $309.45 and a 12-month high of $456.17. The company has a current ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17. The company has a market cap of $3.32 trillion, a PE ratio of 38.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 0.89. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $424.11 and a 200-day moving average price of $410.15.

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

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 23rd. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $44,674,690.32. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 322 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $416.60, for a total transaction of $134,145.20. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 47,255 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,686,433. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $425.68, for a total value of $10,642,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 104,949 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $44,674,690.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 25,566 shares of company stock valued at $10,877,535 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently commented on MSFT shares. Raymond James reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $480.00 price target (up from $450.00) on shares of Microsoft in a report on Friday, April 26th. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $465.00 to $489.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $495.00 to $520.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, June 21st. New Street Research assumed coverage on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Monday, June 10th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $570.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus restated a “buy” rating and set a $455.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-three have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $467.12.

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.