Howard Financial Services LTD. Sells 689 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Howard Financial Services LTD. decreased its holdings in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 4.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 15,626 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 689 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises approximately 1.1% of Howard Financial Services LTD.’s holdings, making the stock its 23rd largest position. Howard Financial Services LTD.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $6,984,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter worth $35,920,047,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 664,908,939 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $250,032,357,000 after purchasing an additional 15,701,937 shares during the period. Swedbank AB acquired a new stake in Microsoft in the 1st quarter worth $5,587,119,000. TCI Fund Management Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth about $4,000,376,000. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 277.8% during the fourth quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 7,004,341 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $2,633,912,000 after buying an additional 5,150,160 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 14,398 shares of the 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 transaction, 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 is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Trading Down 1.8 %

MSFT stock opened at $409.44 on Wednesday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $430.25 and a 200-day moving average of $423.01. The company has a market cap of $3.04 trillion, a P/E ratio of 35.45, a PEG ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.90. Microsoft Co. has a twelve month low of $309.45 and a twelve month high of $468.35. The company has a quick ratio of 1.27, a current 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 for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.90 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $64.73 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $64.38 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 35.95% and a net margin of 35.96%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.69 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 13.04 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.73%. Microsoft’s payout ratio is presently 25.97%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have commented on MSFT shares. Oppenheimer upped their price target on Microsoft from $450.00 to $500.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, June 7th. Mizuho upped their target price on Microsoft from $450.00 to $480.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. Macquarie lifted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $460.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 17th. New Street Research assumed coverage on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Monday, June 10th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $570.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Argus lifted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $526.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-two have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $494.72.

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.