S.A. Mason LLC Acquires 95 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

S.A. Mason LLC increased its holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 0.6% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 16,283 shares of the software giant’s stock after buying an additional 95 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises approximately 4.1% of S.A. Mason LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 2nd biggest position. S.A. Mason LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $6,851,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Financial Security Advisor Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Financial Security Advisor Inc. now owns 27,270 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $10,255,000 after acquiring an additional 452 shares during the period. Gunderson Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in Microsoft by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Gunderson Capital Management Inc. now owns 24,887 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $9,359,000 after purchasing an additional 185 shares during the period. Rappaport Reiches Capital Management LLC grew its position in Microsoft by 14.9% in the 4th quarter. Rappaport Reiches Capital Management LLC now owns 8,213 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $3,089,000 after purchasing an additional 1,067 shares during the last quarter. Bayesian Capital Management LP increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 60.1% in the fourth quarter. Bayesian Capital Management LP now owns 48,500 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $18,238,000 after purchasing an additional 18,200 shares during the period. Finally, RNC Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 10.4% during the fourth quarter. RNC Capital Management LLC now owns 69,053 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $25,967,000 after buying an additional 6,484 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently commented on the company. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Microsoft from $465.00 to $520.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $465.00 to $489.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Raymond James reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $480.00 target price (up previously from $450.00) on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of Microsoft from $465.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 1st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $450.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $467.12.

Microsoft Stock Performance

MSFT stock opened at $460.77 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $426.26 and a 200 day simple moving average of $411.42. Microsoft Co. has a 52 week low of $309.45 and a 52 week high of $461.02. The stock has a market cap of $3.42 trillion, a P/E ratio of 39.89, a P/E/G ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a current ratio of 1.24.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The software giant reported $2.94 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.81 by $0.13. Microsoft had a net margin of 36.43% and a return on equity of 37.54%. The business had revenue of $61.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $60.86 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.45 EPS. Microsoft’s revenue was up 17.0% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate 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. Investors of record on Thursday, August 15th will be paid a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 15th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.65%. Microsoft’s payout ratio is 25.97%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Microsoft news, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 $44,674,690.32. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on 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 owns 104,949 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $44,674,690.32. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 322 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 in the company, valued at $19,686,433. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 25,566 shares of company stock worth $10,877,535. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

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.