Hall Laurie J Trustee Sells 1,460 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Hall Laurie J Trustee reduced its stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 2.4% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 58,459 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 1,460 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for 9.1% of Hall Laurie J Trustee’s portfolio, making the stock its biggest position. Hall Laurie J Trustee’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $26,128,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Bayesian Capital Management LP lifted its stake in Microsoft by 60.1% in the fourth quarter. Bayesian Capital Management LP now owns 48,500 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $18,238,000 after buying an additional 18,200 shares during the last quarter. Warren Street Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 16.5% in the 4th quarter. Warren Street Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 6,767 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $2,545,000 after acquiring an additional 956 shares during the period. Czech National Bank lifted its position in Microsoft by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 1,307,487 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $550,086,000 after purchasing an additional 5,253 shares during the last quarter. True Link Financial Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Microsoft by 296.7% during the 1st quarter. True Link Financial Advisors LLC now owns 3,027 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $1,274,000 after purchasing an additional 2,264 shares during the period. Finally, United Advisor Group LLC bought a new position in Microsoft in the 4th quarter worth about $9,538,000. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In related news, 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 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 document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Microsoft news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 14,398 shares of the firm’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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 786,933 shares in the company, valued at $328,473,703.53. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Amy Hood sold 38,000 shares of the firm’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 value of $15,600,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly 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 a total of 190,629 shares of company stock worth $77,916,485 in the last 90 days. 0.03% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MSFT has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. TD Cowen lifted their price target on Microsoft from $470.00 to $495.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 18th. Truist Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $600.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Monday, June 17th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $500.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and set a $550.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Citigroup decreased their target price on shares of Microsoft from $520.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-two have given 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 price target of $494.72.

Microsoft Trading Down 0.8 %

NASDAQ MSFT opened at $435.27 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.24 trillion, a PE ratio of 37.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 0.90. Microsoft Co. has a 1-year low of $309.45 and a 1-year high of $468.35. The company has a current ratio of 1.27, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $420.92 and its 200-day simple moving average is $424.18.

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

Microsoft declared that its board has authorized a stock repurchase program on Monday, September 16th that allows the company to buyback $60.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the software giant to reacquire up to 1.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be given a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.76%. This is an increase from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. Microsoft’s 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.