Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Sold by Morton Capital Management LLC CA

Morton Capital Management LLC CA reduced its holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 3.5% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 40,917 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 1,482 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for about 4.3% of Morton Capital Management LLC CA’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 6th largest holding. Morton Capital Management LLC CA’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $18,288,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth $35,920,047,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Microsoft by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 664,908,939 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $250,032,357,000 after purchasing an additional 15,701,937 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the 1st quarter valued at about $5,587,119,000. TCI Fund Management Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at about $4,000,376,000. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 277.8% during the fourth quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 7,004,341 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $2,633,912,000 after buying an additional 5,150,160 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 14,398 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $417.41, for a total transaction of $6,009,869.18. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 786,933 shares in the company, valued at approximately $328,473,703.53. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Microsoft Stock Down 1.8 %

MSFT stock opened at $409.44 on Wednesday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $430.25 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $423.01. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.04 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.45, a PEG ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.90. Microsoft Co. has a fifty-two week low of $309.45 and a fifty-two week high of $468.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 1.27 and a quick ratio of 1.27.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $2.95 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.90 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $64.73 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $64.38 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.96% and a return on equity of 35.95%. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.69 earnings per share. Microsoft’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 13.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared 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 0.73%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 15th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 25.97%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on MSFT shares. Macquarie lifted their target price on Microsoft from $460.00 to $475.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 17th. Mizuho boosted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $450.00 to $480.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $500.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $485.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and set a $550.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $494.72.

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.