Valley Brook Capital Group Inc. Sells 864 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Valley Brook Capital Group Inc. lessened its holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 3.4% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 24,193 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 864 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises approximately 7.6% of Valley Brook Capital Group Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest holding. Valley Brook Capital Group Inc.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $8,239,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 38,234 shares of Microsoft 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $262,963,391.24. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 198,373 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $64,941,369.01. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, 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 value of $12,557,192.62. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 800,668 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $262,963,391.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have commented on MSFT shares. Wells Fargo & Company restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $400.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Monday, October 2nd. TD Cowen lifted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $330.00 to $390.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 19th. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $410.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday, October 25th. Mizuho lifted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $360.00 to $390.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 17th. Finally, KeyCorp lifted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $340.00 to $400.00 in a research note on Tuesday, July 18th. 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 currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $384.34.

Microsoft Stock Up 2.5 %

Shares of MSFT opened at $369.67 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $2.75 trillion, a P/E ratio of 35.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 0.88. Microsoft Co. has a 12-month low of $219.35 and a 12-month high of $370.10. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $332.31 and its 200 day moving average price is $329.67. The company has a current ratio of 1.66, a quick ratio of 1.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its earnings results 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 company had revenue of $56.52 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 in the previous year, the company posted $2.35 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 11.13 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 14th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 16th will be given a $0.75 dividend. This is an increase from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.81%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 15th. Microsoft’s payout ratio is currently 26.33%.

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.