Annandale Capital LLC Sells 44 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Annandale Capital LLC cut its position in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 0.2% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 23,198 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 44 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for about 1.8% of Annandale Capital LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 13th biggest holding. Annandale Capital LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $10,368,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. WFA Asset Management Corp grew its holdings in Microsoft by 27.0% in the 1st quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 1,016 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $427,000 after buying an additional 216 shares in the last quarter. Red Tortoise LLC grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 2.6% during the first quarter. Red Tortoise LLC now owns 4,288 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,804,000 after purchasing an additional 108 shares during the last quarter. United Capital Management of KS Inc. increased its holdings in Microsoft by 0.5% in the first quarter. United Capital Management of KS Inc. now owns 37,106 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $15,611,000 after purchasing an additional 180 shares during the period. Meadow Creek Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 2.4% in the 1st quarter. Meadow Creek Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 10,887 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $4,580,000 after purchasing an additional 257 shares during the period. Finally, Wiser Wealth Management Inc raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 30.7% in the 1st quarter. Wiser Wealth Management Inc now owns 1,700 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $715,000 after acquiring an additional 399 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently commented on MSFT. Sanford C. Bernstein reduced their target price on Microsoft from $501.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $470.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Wedbush reissued an “underperform” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Friday, October 18th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price target on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $495.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Friday, October 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and twenty-six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $503.03.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Microsoft news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 78,353 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $408.63, for a total transaction of $32,017,386.39. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 864,327 shares in the company, valued at approximately $353,189,942.01. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 78,353 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $408.63, for a total transaction of $32,017,386.39. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 864,327 shares in the company, valued at $353,189,942.01. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, 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 completion of the sale, the insider now owns 544,847 shares in the company, valued at $219,349,953.73. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 197,829 shares of company stock worth $80,966,837. 0.03% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of Microsoft stock opened at $425.20 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $3.16 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.08, a PEG ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.30 and a quick ratio of 1.29. Microsoft Co. has a 1 year low of $362.90 and a 1 year high of $468.35. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $421.38 and its 200 day moving average is $425.44.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.10 by $0.20. The company had revenue of $65.59 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $64.57 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.61% and a return on equity of 34.56%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.99 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 12.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.83 per share. This is an increase from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.78%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is presently 24.75%.

Microsoft announced that its board has initiated a share buyback plan on Monday, September 16th that permits the company to buyback $60.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the software giant to repurchase up to 1.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

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.