Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Sold by Cravens & Co Advisors LLC

Cravens & Co Advisors LLC reduced its holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 5.5% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 4,569 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 268 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for about 1.5% of Cravens & Co Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 13th biggest holding. Cravens & Co Advisors LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $2,042,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc lifted its position in Microsoft by 169.2% during the second quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 70 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 44 shares during the period. Richardson Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 1,290.0% during the 1st quarter. Richardson Capital Management LLC now owns 139 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $59,000 after acquiring an additional 129 shares during the last quarter. Innealta Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft during the 2nd quarter worth about $75,000. Bellevue Group AG boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 47.5% in the first quarter. Bellevue Group AG now owns 180 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $76,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Horizon Financial Services LLC purchased a new stake in Microsoft in the first quarter valued at approximately $80,000. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on MSFT shares. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $500.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Argus raised their price target on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $526.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. Mizuho boosted their price objective 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 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and set a $550.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Microsoft presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $493.47.

Microsoft Trading Up 0.7 %

NASDAQ MSFT opened at $419.14 on Tuesday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $418.40 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $424.67. Microsoft Co. has a 12 month low of $324.39 and a 12 month high of $468.35. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.12 trillion, a PE ratio of 36.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a current ratio of 1.27, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $2.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.90 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $64.73 billion for 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 firm’s revenue was up 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.69 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 13.02 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 21st will be paid a dividend of $0.83 per share. This is an increase from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.79%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is 28.74%.

Microsoft declared that its board has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Monday, September 16th that allows the company to repurchase $60.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the software giant to repurchase up to 1.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $411.04, for a total transaction of $1,027,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 50,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,552,000. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $411.04, for a total value of $1,027,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 50,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,552,000. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 40,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $402.59, for a total value of $16,103,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 544,847 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $219,349,953.73. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 190,629 shares of company stock valued at $77,916,485. 0.03% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

About Microsoft

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.