Wedge Capital Management L L P NC Sells 37,715 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Wedge Capital Management L L P NC cut its position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 18.5% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 166,153 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 37,715 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up approximately 1.3% of Wedge Capital Management L L P NC’s portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest position. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $74,262,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Patrick M Sweeney & Associates Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 3.3% in the second quarter. Patrick M Sweeney & Associates Inc. now owns 10,266 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $4,586,000 after purchasing an additional 331 shares during the period. Meadow Creek Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 5.2% in the second quarter. Meadow Creek Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 11,453 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $5,119,000 after purchasing an additional 566 shares during the period. Ballew Advisors Inc increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 2.3% in the second quarter. Ballew Advisors Inc now owns 2,381 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $1,081,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares during the period. James J. Burns & Company LLC increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 165.5% in the second quarter. James J. Burns & Company LLC now owns 11,074 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $4,950,000 after purchasing an additional 6,903 shares during the period. Finally, Highland Financial Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 46.1% in the second quarter. Highland Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,341 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $599,000 after buying an additional 423 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Microsoft news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 40,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $402.59, for a total transaction of $16,103,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 544,847 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $219,349,953.73. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Microsoft news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 40,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $402.59, for a total transaction of $16,103,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 544,847 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $219,349,953.73. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Satya Nadella sold 14,398 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $328,473,703.53. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 190,629 shares of company stock valued at $77,916,485 over the last quarter. 0.03% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Microsoft Price Performance

NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $427.00 on Friday. Microsoft Co. has a one year low of $309.45 and a one year high of $468.35. 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 stock has a market cap of $3.17 trillion, a PE ratio of 36.97, a P/E/G ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 0.90. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $424.24 and a 200 day moving average price of $423.09.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

MSFT has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. UBS Group lowered their target price on Microsoft from $520.00 to $510.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $550.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on Microsoft from $520.00 to $506.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Bank of America upped their target price on Microsoft from $480.00 to $510.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Microsoft from $500.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-two have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average 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.