Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Sold by Saxon Interests Inc.

Saxon Interests Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 0.3% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 14,267 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 43 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up approximately 2.9% of Saxon Interests Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 5th largest position. Saxon Interests Inc.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $6,002,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. boosted its position in Microsoft by 4.7% during the 3rd quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 291,447 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $92,024,000 after acquiring an additional 13,085 shares during the period. Tucker Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Microsoft by 25.0% during the 3rd quarter. Tucker Asset Management LLC now owns 3,905 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,233,000 after acquiring an additional 780 shares during the period. WT Wealth Management boosted its position in Microsoft by 20.7% during the 3rd quarter. WT Wealth Management now owns 12,491 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $3,944,000 after acquiring an additional 2,140 shares during the period. Austin Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Microsoft during the 3rd quarter worth $642,000. Finally, Muhlenkamp & Co. Inc. boosted its position in Microsoft by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Muhlenkamp & Co. Inc. now owns 31,228 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $9,860,000 after acquiring an additional 336 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently commented on MSFT. KeyCorp began coverage on Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $490.00 price objective on the stock. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $465.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Friday. New Street Research began coverage on Microsoft in a research note on Monday, June 10th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $570.00 price objective on the stock. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on Microsoft from $450.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, June 7th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Microsoft from $440.00 to $470.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-three have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $470.86.

Insider Activity

In related news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 322 shares of the business’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 transaction, the chief marketing officer now owns 47,255 shares in the company, valued at $19,686,433. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 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 value of $134,145.20. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer now owns 47,255 shares in the company, valued at $19,686,433. The sale was disclosed in a 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 dated 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 ninety days, insiders sold 25,566 shares of company stock valued at $10,877,535. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Microsoft stock opened at $453.55 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.23, a current ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17. The company has a market capitalization of $3.37 trillion, a PE ratio of 39.27, a P/E/G ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 0.89. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $435.94 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $416.36. Microsoft Co. has a twelve month low of $309.45 and a twelve month high of $468.35.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The software giant reported $2.94 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.81 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $61.86 billion during 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 firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.45 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 11.77 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.66%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 15th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.