Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) is CRA Financial Services LLC’s 5th Largest Position

CRA Financial Services LLC cut its holdings in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 0.3% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 40,457 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 141 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for approximately 3.6% of CRA Financial Services LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 5th biggest holding. CRA Financial Services LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $18,082,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 0.5% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 667,987,038 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $281,035,506,000 after purchasing an additional 3,078,099 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Microsoft during the 4th quarter valued at $35,920,047,000. Capital International Investors boosted its position in Microsoft by 1.0% during the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 83,571,070 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $35,160,020,000 after buying an additional 842,884 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC grew its holdings in Microsoft by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 25,505,600 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $9,591,126,000 after acquiring an additional 277,881 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Microsoft by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 25,381,692 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $9,544,532,000 after purchasing an additional 403,409 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of MSFT stock opened at $417.14 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.27, a current ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $431.08 and a 200-day moving average price of $422.97. Microsoft Co. has a 52 week low of $309.45 and a 52 week high of $468.35. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.10 trillion, a PE ratio of 36.12, a P/E/G ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.90.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $2.95 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 the consensus estimate of $64.38 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.96% and a return on equity of 35.95%. The firm’s revenue was up 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.69 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 13.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 15th will be given a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.72%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 15th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.97%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on MSFT shares. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $500.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Mizuho increased their price target on shares of Microsoft from $450.00 to $480.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $485.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Microsoft from $520.00 to $506.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Oppenheimer upped 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. 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 has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $494.72.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 14,398 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $417.41, for a total transaction 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 approximately $328,473,703.53. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.03% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.