Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) is New England Research & Management Inc.’s 3rd Largest Position

New England Research & Management Inc. decreased its holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 3.1% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 13,355 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 427 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises 2.9% of New England Research & Management Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest holding. New England Research & Management Inc.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $5,969,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of MSFT. Friedenthal Financial acquired a new position in Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at $45,000. Richardson Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Microsoft by 1,290.0% in the 1st quarter. Richardson Capital Management LLC now owns 139 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $59,000 after buying an additional 129 shares during the period. Neo Ivy Capital Management acquired a new position in Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at $58,000. Bellevue Group AG increased its stake in Microsoft by 47.5% in the 1st quarter. Bellevue Group AG now owns 180 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $76,000 after buying an additional 58 shares during the period. Finally, 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 period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In related news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 14,398 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $417.41, for a total value of $6,009,869.18. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 786,933 shares in the company, valued at $328,473,703.53. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other Microsoft news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 14,398 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $417.41, for a total value of $6,009,869.18. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 786,933 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $328,473,703.53. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 244 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $415.53, for a total transaction of $101,389.32. Following the completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 47,011 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,534,480.83. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 14,964 shares of company stock worth $6,245,404. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Trading Down 0.8 %

Shares of MSFT stock opened at $410.60 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $3.05 trillion, a P/E ratio of 35.55, a PEG ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.90. Microsoft Co. has a 1-year low of $309.45 and a 1-year high of $468.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 1.27 and a quick ratio of 1.23. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $433.71 and its 200-day simple moving average is $422.83.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $2.95 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.90 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $64.73 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $64.38 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.96% and a return on equity of 35.95%. The company’s revenue was up 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.69 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 13.04 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 15th will be issued a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 15th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.73%. Microsoft’s payout ratio is 25.97%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MSFT has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $500.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Oppenheimer upped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $450.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, June 7th. TD Cowen upped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $470.00 to $495.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $485.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $480.00 to $510.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $494.72.

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.