Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Sold by Sage Investment Advisers LLC

Sage Investment Advisers LLC reduced its stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 9.2% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 3,424 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 347 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up 1.7% of Sage Investment Advisers LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 23rd largest holding. Sage Investment Advisers LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $1,441,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Friedenthal Financial acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft in the 4th quarter worth approximately $45,000. Neo Ivy Capital Management acquired a new position in Microsoft in the fourth quarter worth approximately $58,000. PayPay Securities Corp increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 23.7% in 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 in the last quarter. Cooksen Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the 4th quarter valued at $86,000. Finally, Kathleen S. Wright Associates Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 160.7% during the 4th quarter. Kathleen S. Wright Associates Inc. now owns 232 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $87,000 after acquiring an additional 143 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Citigroup upped their target price on Microsoft from $495.00 to $520.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, June 21st. KeyCorp initiated coverage on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $490.00 target price on the stock. UBS Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $480.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $455.00 to $465.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 12th. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their target price on Microsoft from $475.00 to $485.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $467.12.

Insider Activity

In other news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 322 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $416.60, for a total transaction of $134,145.20. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 47,255 shares in the company, valued at $19,686,433. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 322 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $416.60, for a total transaction of $134,145.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 47,255 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,686,433. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 23rd. The shares were 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 directly 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 90 days, insiders sold 25,566 shares of company stock valued at $10,877,535. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Trading Up 0.3 %

Microsoft stock opened at $460.77 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.42 trillion, a PE ratio of 39.89, a PEG ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 0.89. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $427.29 and its 200-day simple moving average is $411.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a current ratio of 1.24. Microsoft Co. has a 52 week low of $309.45 and a 52 week high of $461.02.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The software giant reported $2.94 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.81 by $0.13. Microsoft had a return on equity of 37.54% and a net margin of 36.43%. The company had revenue of $61.86 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $60.86 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.45 earnings per share. Microsoft’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 11.77 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 15th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.65%. Microsoft’s payout ratio is 25.97%.

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.