Kaizen Financial Strategies Sells 390 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Kaizen Financial Strategies reduced its position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 4.6% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 8,018 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 390 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for approximately 2.3% of Kaizen Financial Strategies’ investment portfolio, making the stock its 12th largest holding. Kaizen Financial Strategies’ holdings in Microsoft were worth $2,312,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 634,238,715 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $147,714,197,000 after purchasing an additional 6,129,708 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its stake in Microsoft by 0.7% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 295,509,547 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $68,824,173,000 after buying an additional 1,951,554 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 0.3% during the second quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 195,859,819 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $50,302,677,000 after buying an additional 556,020 shares during the last quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 112,158.6% during the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 150,187,424 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $36,017,948,000 after buying an additional 150,053,637 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 142,731,177 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $34,172,705,000 after acquiring an additional 3,268,917 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.20% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MSFT has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $350.00 to $385.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 19th. DA Davidson boosted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $350.00 to $415.00 in a report on Friday, July 21st. Redburn Partners dropped their price objective on Microsoft from $450.00 to $440.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 11th. Tigress Financial lifted their target price on Microsoft from $411.00 to $433.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 2nd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on Microsoft from $385.00 to $400.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 26th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and thirty-three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $373.68.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of MSFT stock opened at $332.88 on Thursday. Microsoft Co. has a 52 week low of $213.43 and a 52 week high of $366.78. The company has a market capitalization of $2.47 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.35, a PEG ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $332.69 and a 200 day simple moving average of $309.50. 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 issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 25th. The software giant reported $2.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.55 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $56.19 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $55.49 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 38.70% and a net margin of 34.15%. The business’s revenue was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.23 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 10.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 14th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 17th will be given a dividend of $0.68 per share. This represents a $2.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.82%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, August 16th. Microsoft’s payout ratio is 28.07%.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In related news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 38,234 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $328.43, for a total value of $12,557,192.62. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 800,668 shares in the company, valued at $262,963,391.24. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 50,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 588,084 shares in the company, valued at $198,301,924.80. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Satya Nadella sold 38,234 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $328.43, for a total value of $12,557,192.62. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 800,668 shares in the company, valued at approximately $262,963,391.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 115,049 shares of company stock valued at $38,195,619. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

About Microsoft

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.