Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Stake Reduced by Sweeney & Michel LLC

Sweeney & Michel LLC reduced its stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 0.2% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 15,961 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 39 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises 3.1% of Sweeney & Michel LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 9th largest position. Sweeney & Michel LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $7,335,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of MSFT. Friedenthal Financial purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $45,000. Neo Ivy Capital Management purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $58,000. Richardson Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 1,290.0% during the first quarter. Richardson Capital Management LLC now owns 139 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $59,000 after buying an additional 129 shares during the period. PayPay Securities Corp increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 23.7% during the fourth quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 188 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $71,000 after buying an additional 36 shares during the period. Finally, Bellevue Group AG increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 47.5% during the first quarter. Bellevue Group AG now owns 180 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $76,000 after buying an additional 58 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Microsoft Trading Up 1.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $417.14 on Friday. Microsoft Co. has a 1 year low of $309.45 and a 1 year high of $468.35. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $432.34 and its 200-day moving average price is $422.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 1.27 and a quick ratio of 1.23. 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.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted 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. Microsoft had a return on equity of 35.95% and a net margin of 35.96%. The company had revenue of $64.73 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $64.38 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.69 earnings per share. Microsoft’s revenue was up 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 13.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

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 issued a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.72%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 15th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is 25.97%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently issued reports on MSFT. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $485.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on Microsoft from $520.00 to $506.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Truist Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $600.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Monday, June 17th. TD Cowen upped their price target on Microsoft from $470.00 to $495.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. Finally, Citigroup reduced their price target on Microsoft from $520.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $494.72.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 14,398 shares of the 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 786,933 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $328,473,703.53. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Microsoft news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 14,398 shares of the 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 786,933 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $328,473,703.53. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 244 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $415.53, for a total value of $101,389.32. Following the completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer now owns 47,011 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,534,480.83. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.03% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Microsoft Company 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.