Talbot Financial LLC Sells 2,338 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Talbot Financial LLC decreased its holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 1.1% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 205,267 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 2,338 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises 11.9% of Talbot Financial LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest holding. Talbot Financial LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $69,902,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Good Life Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Microsoft by 0.6% in the second quarter. Good Life Advisors LLC now owns 54,021 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $18,396,000 after buying an additional 311 shares during the last quarter. Carr Financial Group Corp increased its holdings in Microsoft by 4.0% in the second quarter. Carr Financial Group Corp now owns 10,761 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $3,665,000 after buying an additional 417 shares during the last quarter. Planning Center Inc. increased its holdings in Microsoft by 24.4% in the second quarter. Planning Center Inc. now owns 4,849 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,651,000 after buying an additional 950 shares during the last quarter. Nissay Asset Management Corp Japan ADV boosted its position in Microsoft by 6.6% during the first quarter. Nissay Asset Management Corp Japan ADV now owns 1,518,749 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $437,855,000 after purchasing an additional 94,563 shares during the period. Finally, Trivant Custom Portfolio Group LLC boosted its position in Microsoft by 1.2% during the second quarter. Trivant Custom Portfolio Group LLC now owns 19,877 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $6,769,000 after purchasing an additional 229 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.20% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MSFT has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Microsoft from $385.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 26th. KeyCorp upped their target price on Microsoft from $340.00 to $400.00 in a research report on Tuesday, July 18th. TD Cowen upped their target price on Microsoft from $330.00 to $390.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 19th. HSBC raised Microsoft from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $347.00 to $413.00 in a research report on Thursday, October 26th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $400.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Monday, October 2nd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $384.34.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Microsoft news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 26,815 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $327.37, for a total transaction of $8,778,426.55. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 198,373 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $64,941,369.01. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 38,234 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $328.43, for a total transaction 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 approximately $262,963,391.24. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 26,815 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $327.37, for a total value of $8,778,426.55. Following 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. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Microsoft stock opened at $360.69 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $331.49 and a 200 day simple moving average of $328.45. The company has a quick ratio of 1.64, a current ratio of 1.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19. Microsoft Co. has a 12-month low of $219.35 and a 12-month high of $366.78. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.68 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.92, a P/E/G ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 0.88.

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

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 14th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. This is a boost from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.83%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 15th. Microsoft’s payout ratio is currently 29.04%.

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.