Websterrogers Financial Advisors LLC Cuts Position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Websterrogers Financial Advisors LLC decreased its position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 23.1% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 831 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 249 shares during the quarter. Websterrogers Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $371,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of MSFT. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth approximately $35,920,047,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Microsoft by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 664,908,939 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $250,032,357,000 after buying an additional 15,701,937 shares during the period. Swedbank AB bought a new stake in Microsoft in the first quarter worth $5,587,119,000. TCI Fund Management Ltd. purchased a new position in Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth $4,000,376,000. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC increased its position in Microsoft by 277.8% during the fourth quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 7,004,341 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $2,633,912,000 after acquiring an additional 5,150,160 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on MSFT shares. Truist Financial restated a “buy” rating and issued a $600.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Monday, June 17th. TD Cowen upped their target price on Microsoft from $470.00 to $495.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. Citigroup decreased their price target on Microsoft from $520.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $485.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Tigress Financial lifted their target price on Microsoft from $475.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 13th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $494.72.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 14,398 shares of the business’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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 786,933 shares in the company, valued at $328,473,703.53. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Microsoft Stock Up 1.0 %

Shares of Microsoft 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 market cap of $3.10 trillion, a P/E ratio of 36.12, a PEG ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.90. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $431.08 and its 200-day moving average price is $422.97. Microsoft Co. has a 52-week low of $309.45 and a 52-week high of $468.35.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $2.95 earnings per share (EPS) 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 business’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.69 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 13.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.72%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 15th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is currently 25.97%.

Microsoft 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.