Penn Davis Mcfarland Inc. Sells 293 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Penn Davis Mcfarland Inc. lessened its stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 13.2% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 1,934 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 293 shares during the quarter. Penn Davis Mcfarland Inc.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $864,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in MSFT. Spectrum Financial Alliance Ltd LLC lifted its stake in Microsoft by 8.9% in the 2nd quarter. Spectrum Financial Alliance Ltd LLC now owns 585 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $261,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Forward LLC increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 9.6% during the 2nd quarter. Wealth Forward LLC now owns 2,222 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $993,000 after acquiring an additional 195 shares during the last quarter. OMNI 360 Wealth Inc. raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 7.9% in the second quarter. OMNI 360 Wealth Inc. now owns 5,090 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $2,275,000 after purchasing an additional 372 shares during the period. Montz Harcus Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 0.7% during the 2nd quarter. Montz Harcus Wealth Management LLC now owns 13,494 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $6,031,000 after buying an additional 95 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nvest Financial LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.4% during the 2nd quarter. Nvest Financial LLC now owns 10,711 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $4,787,000 after buying an additional 45 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 40,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $402.59, for a total transaction of $16,103,600.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 544,847 shares in the company, valued at approximately $219,349,953.73. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 40,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $402.59, for a total value of $16,103,600.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 544,847 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $219,349,953.73. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Satya Nadella sold 78,353 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $408.63, for a total value of $32,017,386.39. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 864,327 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $353,189,942.01. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 190,629 shares of company stock valued at $77,916,485. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of MSFT opened at $438.69 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.27, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. Microsoft Co. has a 12-month low of $309.45 and a 12-month high of $468.35. The company has a market cap of $3.26 trillion, a PE ratio of 37.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 0.90. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $421.28 and a 200-day moving average price of $423.89.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $2.95 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.90 by $0.05. Microsoft had a return on equity of 35.95% and a net margin of 35.96%. The company had revenue of $64.73 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $64.38 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.69 EPS. Microsoft’s quarterly revenue was up 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 13.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be issued a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.76%. This is an increase from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. Microsoft’s payout ratio is currently 25.97%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MSFT has been the topic of several research reports. Oppenheimer upped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $450.00 to $500.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, June 7th. Truist Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $600.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Monday, June 17th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $465.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 12th. New Street Research assumed coverage on shares of Microsoft in a report on Monday, June 10th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $570.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Microsoft from $500.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-two have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $494.72.

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.