PFW Advisors LLC Reduces Stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

PFW Advisors LLC reduced its position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 9.5% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 10,007 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 1,048 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for about 1.4% of PFW Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 17th largest holding. PFW Advisors LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $4,473,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of MSFT. Bayesian Capital Management LP increased its position in Microsoft by 60.1% during the fourth quarter. Bayesian Capital Management LP now owns 48,500 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $18,238,000 after buying an additional 18,200 shares in the last quarter. Warren Street Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in Microsoft by 16.5% during the fourth quarter. Warren Street Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 6,767 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $2,545,000 after buying an additional 956 shares in the last quarter. Czech National Bank increased its position in Microsoft by 0.4% during the first quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 1,307,487 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $550,086,000 after buying an additional 5,253 shares in the last quarter. True Link Financial Advisors LLC increased its position in Microsoft by 296.7% during the first quarter. True Link Financial Advisors LLC now owns 3,027 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,274,000 after buying an additional 2,264 shares in the last quarter. Finally, United Advisor Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth about $9,538,000. 71.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Microsoft Price Performance

NASDAQ MSFT opened at $413.12 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $432.99 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $422.74. The stock has a market cap of $3.07 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a current ratio of 1.27, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. Microsoft Co. has a 52 week low of $309.45 and a 52 week high of $468.35.

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

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed 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. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.73%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 15th. Microsoft’s payout ratio is currently 25.97%.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In other news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 244 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $415.53, for a total value 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Microsoft news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 244 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $415.53, for a total value of $101,389.32. Following the completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 47,011 shares in the company, valued at $19,534,480.83. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Satya Nadella sold 14,398 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on MSFT shares. TD Cowen upped their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $470.00 to $495.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. Oppenheimer increased their price target on Microsoft from $450.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, June 7th. Truist Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $600.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Monday, June 17th. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $485.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $465.00 to $500.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report 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 company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus 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.