Carson Advisory Inc. Lowers Stock Position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Carson Advisory Inc. trimmed its position in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 0.9% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 9,553 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 90 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for approximately 2.4% of Carson Advisory Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 8th largest position. Carson Advisory Inc.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $2,754,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of MSFT. Monumental Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in Microsoft in the 1st quarter worth $28,000. Gleason Group Inc. increased its position in Microsoft by 111.7% in the first quarter. Gleason Group Inc. now owns 199 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $57,000 after buying an additional 105 shares in the last quarter. Syverson Strege & Co raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 157.0% in the first quarter. Syverson Strege & Co now owns 203 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $58,000 after buying an additional 124 shares during the period. PayPay Securities Corp purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft during the 4th quarter valued at about $54,000. Finally, MayTech Global Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of Microsoft during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $83,000. Institutional investors own 69.20% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Microsoft news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 50,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $337.20, for a total value of $16,860,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 588,084 shares in the company, valued at approximately $198,301,924.80. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have commented on MSFT. Mizuho raised their target price on shares of Microsoft from $360.00 to $390.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 17th. Citigroup decreased their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $425.00 to $420.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 26th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Microsoft from $380.00 to $400.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 19th. Redburn Partners decreased their price target on Microsoft from $450.00 to $440.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 11th. Finally, Tigress Financial lifted their target price on Microsoft from $411.00 to $433.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and thirty-three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $373.68.

Microsoft Trading Down 0.3 %

MSFT opened at $327.76 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $2.44 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.82, a P/E/G ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 0.90. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $332.89 and its 200-day moving average price is $307.41. Microsoft Co. has a one year low of $213.43 and a one year high of $366.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a current ratio of 1.77.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 25th. The software giant reported $2.69 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.55 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $56.19 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $55.49 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 38.70% and a net margin of 34.15%. Microsoft’s quarterly revenue was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.23 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 10.9 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 14th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 17th will be paid a $0.68 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, August 16th. This represents a $2.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.83%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is currently 28.07%.

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.