Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Sold by Bennett Associates Wealth Management

Bennett Associates Wealth Management cut its stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 27.5% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,631 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 618 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises approximately 0.7% of Bennett Associates Wealth Management’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 22nd biggest position. Bennett Associates Wealth Management’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $729,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Neo Ivy Capital Management acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the 4th quarter worth $58,000. Richardson Capital Management LLC increased its position 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 worth $59,000 after purchasing an additional 129 shares during the last quarter. PayPay Securities Corp increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 23.7% during the 4th quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 188 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $71,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares during the last quarter. Bellevue Group AG increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 47.5% during the 1st quarter. Bellevue Group AG now owns 180 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $76,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Horizon Financial Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the 1st quarter worth about $80,000. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently issued reports on MSFT shares. TD Cowen raised their price objective on Microsoft from $470.00 to $495.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. Macquarie raised their price objective on Microsoft from $460.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 17th. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $550.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on Microsoft from $450.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, June 7th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $500.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-two have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $494.72.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ MSFT opened at $423.04 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a current ratio of 1.27. Microsoft Co. has a fifty-two week low of $309.45 and a fifty-two week high of $468.35. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.14 trillion, a PE ratio of 36.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 0.90. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $424.91 and its 200-day simple moving average is $423.06.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its earnings results 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. Microsoft had a return on equity of 35.95% and a net margin of 35.96%. The business had revenue of $64.73 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $64.38 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.69 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 13.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Microsoft news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of Microsoft 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 owns 50,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,552,000. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other Microsoft news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of Microsoft 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 owns 50,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,552,000. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 40,000 shares of Microsoft 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 544,847 shares in the company, valued at approximately $219,349,953.73. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 190,629 shares of company stock valued at $77,916,485 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

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.