Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Sold by Parker Investment Management LLC

Parker Investment Management LLC reduced its stake in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 0.5% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 37,035 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 182 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up about 2.5% of Parker Investment Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 9th largest position. Parker Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $16,553,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MSFT. Bell & Brown Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at about $6,404,000. Schubert & Co boosted its stake in Microsoft by 10.9% during the 4th quarter. Schubert & Co now owns 1,249 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $470,000 after purchasing an additional 123 shares during the period. S&CO Inc. increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. S&CO Inc. now owns 140,183 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $52,714,000 after purchasing an additional 420 shares during the period. Sculati Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Sculati Wealth Management LLC now owns 21,704 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $8,162,000 after purchasing an additional 145 shares during the period. Finally, Alta Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Alta Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 9,523 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $3,581,000 after purchasing an additional 158 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 14,398 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $417.41, for a total value of $6,009,869.18. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 786,933 shares in the company, valued at approximately $328,473,703.53. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, CFO Amy Hood sold 38,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $410.55, for a total transaction of $15,600,900.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 496,369 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $203,784,292.95. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Satya Nadella sold 14,398 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $417.41, for a total value of $6,009,869.18. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 786,933 shares in the company, valued at approximately $328,473,703.53. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 190,629 shares of company stock worth $77,916,485 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently commented on MSFT. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $500.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Citigroup lowered their target price on Microsoft from $520.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $550.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $506.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Tuesday, September 17th. Finally, Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $485.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $493.94.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of Microsoft stock opened at $416.06 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $3.09 trillion, a PE ratio of 36.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 0.90. Microsoft Co. has a 12 month low of $314.90 and a 12 month high of $468.35. The company has a quick ratio of 1.27, a current ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $418.32 and a 200-day simple moving average of $425.03.

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

Microsoft announced that its board has authorized a share repurchase program on Monday, September 16th that permits the company to buyback $60.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the software giant to repurchase up to 1.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.83 per share. This is a positive change from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.80%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 28.74%.

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.