Prairie Sky Financial Group LLC Lowers Stock Holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Prairie Sky Financial Group LLC reduced its position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 1.0% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 16,621 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 165 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for approximately 4.2% of Prairie Sky Financial Group LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 10th largest holding. Prairie Sky Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $6,993,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in MSFT. Sandbar Asset Management LLP bought a new stake in Microsoft in the 3rd quarter valued at about $242,000. Matthew 25 Management Corp grew its holdings in Microsoft by 26.7% during the 3rd quarter. Matthew 25 Management Corp now owns 19,000 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $5,999,000 after buying an additional 4,000 shares in the last quarter. Glynn Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Microsoft by 48.3% during the 3rd quarter. Glynn Capital Management LLC now owns 76,884 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $24,276,000 after buying an additional 25,048 shares in the last quarter. Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Microsoft by 2,777.8% during the 3rd quarter. Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,036 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $327,000 after buying an additional 1,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pring Turner Capital Group Inc. grew its holdings in Microsoft by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. Pring Turner Capital Group Inc. now owns 9,959 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $3,145,000 after buying an additional 223 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on MSFT. DA Davidson reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $500.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Friday, March 15th. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $500.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, May 22nd. New Street Research started coverage on Microsoft in a report on Monday, June 10th. They set a “buy” rating and a $570.00 target price for the company. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Microsoft from $495.00 to $520.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, June 21st. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Microsoft from $465.00 to $520.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $467.12.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In related news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 244 shares of the company’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 transaction of $101,389.32. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer now owns 47,011 shares in the company, valued at $19,534,480.83. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 244 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 directly owns 47,011 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,534,480.83. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $425.68, for a total value 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 $44,674,690.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 25,566 shares of company stock worth $10,877,535 over the last quarter. 0.03% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of MSFT stock opened at $460.77 on Friday. 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 fifty-two week low of $309.45 and a fifty-two week high of $461.02. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $427.29 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $411.76. The company has a market capitalization of $3.42 trillion, a P/E ratio of 39.89, a PEG ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 0.89.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The software giant reported $2.94 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.81 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $61.86 billion during 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 for the quarter was up 17.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.45 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 11.77 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 15th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.65%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.