Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Stake Cut by Eastover Investment Advisors LLC

Eastover Investment Advisors LLC lowered its stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 0.8% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 28,604 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 219 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up about 6.3% of Eastover Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 3rd biggest position. Eastover Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $13,137,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of MSFT. Massachusetts Wealth Management lifted its stake in Microsoft by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Wealth Management now owns 9,495 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $3,570,000 after buying an additional 242 shares in the last quarter. SeaBridge Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Microsoft by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. SeaBridge Investment Advisors LLC now owns 42,926 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $16,142,000 after buying an additional 203 shares in the last quarter. Tamar Securities LLC lifted its stake in Microsoft by 23.1% in the 4th quarter. Tamar Securities LLC now owns 74,367 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $27,965,000 after buying an additional 13,947 shares in the last quarter. Mainstay Capital Management LLC ADV lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 65.8% during the 4th quarter. Mainstay Capital Management LLC ADV now owns 5,011 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,884,000 after purchasing an additional 1,988 shares during the period. Finally, Midwest Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 3.4% during the 4th quarter. Midwest Financial Group LLC now owns 9,212 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $3,464,000 after purchasing an additional 304 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Stock Performance

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

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $2.95 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.90 by $0.05. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.96% and a return on equity of 35.95%. The business had revenue of $64.73 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $64.38 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.69 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 13.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 12th. Stockholders 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.73%. Microsoft’s payout ratio is 25.97%.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 322 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $416.60, for a total value of $134,145.20. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer now owns 47,255 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,686,433. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Microsoft news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 322 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $416.60, for a total value of $134,145.20. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer now owns 47,255 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,686,433. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Satya Nadella sold 14,398 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $417.41, for a total transaction of $6,009,869.18. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 786,933 shares in the company, valued at approximately $328,473,703.53. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 14,964 shares of company stock valued at $6,245,404. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MSFT has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $550.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Mizuho increased their price target on Microsoft from $450.00 to $480.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. TD Cowen increased their price target on Microsoft from $470.00 to $495.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. Argus increased their price target on Microsoft from $475.00 to $526.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on Microsoft from $465.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 12th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-two have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $494.72.

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.