Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Sold by New Capital Management LP

New Capital Management LP reduced its position in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 37.0% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 8,165 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 4,800 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises approximately 1.0% of New Capital Management LP’s holdings, making the stock its 15th largest holding. New Capital Management LP’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $3,435,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Stack Financial Management Inc grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.7% during the third quarter. Stack Financial Management Inc now owns 306,490 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $96,774,000 after purchasing an additional 2,019 shares during the last quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC boosted its position in Microsoft by 6.2% during the 3rd quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 14,419 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $4,553,000 after purchasing an additional 846 shares during the period. Markel Group Inc. grew its stake in Microsoft by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Markel Group Inc. now owns 492,480 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $155,501,000 after buying an additional 6,500 shares during the last quarter. Valley Brook Capital Group Inc. increased its position in Microsoft by 1.1% in the third quarter. Valley Brook Capital Group Inc. now owns 24,452 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $7,721,000 after buying an additional 259 shares during the period. Finally, Latitude Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Microsoft by 1.5% in the third quarter. Latitude Advisors LLC now owns 7,107 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $2,244,000 after buying an additional 105 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of MSFT stock opened at $449.78 on Friday. Microsoft Co. has a fifty-two week low of $309.45 and a fifty-two week high of $450.94. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $419.96 and its two-hundred day moving average is $406.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a current ratio of 1.24 and a quick ratio of 1.23. The firm has a market cap of $3.34 trillion, a P/E ratio of 38.94, a PEG ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 0.89.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The software giant reported $2.94 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.81 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $61.86 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $60.86 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 37.54% and a net margin of 36.43%. The firm’s revenue was up 17.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.45 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 11.77 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 15th will be paid a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.67%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 15th. Microsoft’s payout ratio is presently 25.97%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 244 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 directly owns 47,011 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,534,480.83. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Microsoft news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 244 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $415.53, for a total value of $101,389.32. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer now owns 47,011 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,534,480.83. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $425.68, for a total transaction of $10,642,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 104,949 shares in the company, valued at approximately $44,674,690.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 25,566 shares of company stock worth $10,877,535. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently commented on MSFT shares. Tigress Financial upped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 13th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Microsoft from $465.00 to $520.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $480.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. DA Davidson restated a “buy” rating and issued a $500.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday, March 15th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on Microsoft from $455.00 to $465.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 12th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $467.12.

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.