Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Sold by Carson Advisory Inc.

Carson Advisory Inc. reduced its stake in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 1.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 9,441 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 112 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises 2.7% of Carson Advisory Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 6th biggest position. Carson Advisory Inc.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $3,215,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Monumental Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in Microsoft during the 1st quarter worth approximately $28,000. Syverson Strege & Co boosted its position in Microsoft by 157.0% during the 1st quarter. Syverson Strege & Co now owns 203 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $58,000 after acquiring an additional 124 shares during the last quarter. MayTech Global Investments LLC acquired a new position in Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth approximately $83,000. Beutel Goodman & Co Ltd. boosted its position in Microsoft by 57.5% during the 3rd quarter. Beutel Goodman & Co Ltd. now owns 411 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $95,000 after acquiring an additional 150 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Alapocas Investment Partners Inc. acquired a new position in Microsoft during the 1st quarter worth approximately $97,000. 69.20% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In related news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 38,234 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $262,963,391.24. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other Microsoft news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 38,234 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of 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 through the SEC website. Also, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 26,815 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $327.37, for a total value of $8,778,426.55. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 198,373 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $64,941,369.01. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Microsoft Stock Performance

MSFT opened at $352.80 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $2.62 trillion, a P/E ratio of 34.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 0.88. Microsoft Co. has a 52-week low of $213.43 and a 52-week high of $366.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a quick ratio of 1.64 and a current ratio of 1.66. The business’s fifty day moving average is $328.84 and its 200-day moving average is $326.68.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 24th. The software giant reported $2.99 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.65 by $0.34. The business had revenue of $56.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $54.52 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 38.79% and a net margin of 35.31%. Microsoft’s revenue was up 12.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.35 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 11.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 14th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 16th will be paid a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 15th. This is a positive change from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.85%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 29.04%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on MSFT. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on Microsoft from $385.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 26th. StockNews.com began coverage on Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, October 5th. They set a “buy” rating on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $400.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Monday, October 2nd. Citigroup upped their price objective on Microsoft from $430.00 to $432.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 26th. Finally, Fundamental Research set a $298.10 price objective on Microsoft and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 9th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-five have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $384.34.

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.