Pavion Blue Capital LLC Sells 318 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Pavion Blue Capital LLC lowered its position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 0.6% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 56,473 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 318 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for approximately 12.4% of Pavion Blue Capital LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its largest position. Pavion Blue Capital LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $25,241,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Guardian Asset Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Microsoft by 3.7% in the second quarter. Guardian Asset Advisors LLC now owns 13,122 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $5,866,000 after purchasing an additional 474 shares during the period. Chatham Capital Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 0.7% in the second quarter. Chatham Capital Group Inc. now owns 31,488 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $14,074,000 after buying an additional 214 shares during the period. Sterling Group Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Microsoft during the second quarter worth about $2,455,000. FLC Capital Advisors lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 0.7% in the second quarter. FLC Capital Advisors now owns 20,305 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $9,075,000 after acquiring an additional 143 shares during the period. Finally, Diligent Investors LLC boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 0.3% in the second quarter. Diligent Investors LLC now owns 54,683 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $24,441,000 after acquiring an additional 144 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $401.70 on Friday. Microsoft Co. has a fifty-two week low of $309.45 and a fifty-two week high of $468.35. The company’s 50-day moving average is $427.59 and its 200 day moving average is $422.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a current ratio of 1.27. The company has a market capitalization of $2.99 trillion, a P/E ratio of 34.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.90.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $2.95 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.90 by $0.05. The firm 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 company’s revenue was up 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.69 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 13.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity

In related 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 value of $6,009,869.18. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 786,933 shares in the company, valued at approximately $328,473,703.53. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 14,398 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated 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 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Amy Hood sold 38,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $410.55, for a total transaction of $15,600,900.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 496,369 shares in the company, valued at $203,784,292.95. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 130,751 shares of company stock valued at $53,628,156 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on MSFT. Truist Financial restated a “buy” rating and issued a $600.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Monday, June 17th. Macquarie boosted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $460.00 to $475.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, May 17th. New Street Research began coverage on Microsoft in a report on Monday, June 10th. They set a “buy” rating and a $570.00 price target for the company. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $485.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Mizuho raised their target price on Microsoft from $450.00 to $480.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $494.72.

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.