Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC Has $94.87 Million Stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC trimmed its holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 0.6% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 225,484 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 1,401 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises 7.0% of Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC’s portfolio, making the stock its largest holding. Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $94,866,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Friedenthal Financial acquired a new stake in Microsoft in the fourth quarter worth approximately $45,000. Neo Ivy Capital Management acquired a new stake in Microsoft in the fourth quarter worth approximately $58,000. PayPay Securities Corp lifted its position in Microsoft by 23.7% in the fourth 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 period. Cooksen Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in Microsoft in the fourth quarter worth approximately $86,000. Finally, Kathleen S. Wright Associates Inc. lifted its position in Microsoft by 160.7% in the fourth quarter. Kathleen S. Wright Associates Inc. now owns 232 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $87,000 after purchasing an additional 143 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Microsoft Trading Up 0.3 %

Microsoft stock opened at $460.77 on Friday. 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 company has a market capitalization of $3.42 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.89, a PEG ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 0.89. Microsoft Co. has a one year low of $309.45 and a one year high of $461.02. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $427.29 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $411.76.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The software giant reported $2.94 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 net margin of 36.43% and a return on equity of 37.54%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 17.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.45 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 11.77 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 322 shares of the company’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 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Microsoft news, 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 $44,674,690.32. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 322 shares of the company’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 sale, the chief marketing officer now owns 47,255 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,686,433. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 25,566 shares of company stock worth $10,877,535 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have weighed in on MSFT. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on Microsoft from $450.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. DA Davidson reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $500.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday, March 15th. Macquarie increased their price objective on Microsoft from $460.00 to $475.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 17th. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price objective on Microsoft from $465.00 to $489.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Finally, Oppenheimer increased their price objective on Microsoft from $450.00 to $500.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, June 7th. Three 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.com, Microsoft currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $467.12.

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.