Blue Fin Capital Inc. Has $27.81 Million Position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Blue Fin Capital Inc. cut its position in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 1.2% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 81,669 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 989 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up about 7.9% of Blue Fin Capital Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 3rd biggest position. Blue Fin Capital Inc.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $27,812,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in Microsoft by 112,158.6% in the fourth 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 last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth $20,700,525,000. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 35,465.9% in the first quarter. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 20,611,140 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $66,852,000 after acquiring an additional 20,553,188 shares during the period. Providence Capital Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 29,789.2% during the 1st quarter. Providence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 16,570,893 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $57,477,000 after purchasing an additional 16,515,452 shares during the period. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 14.0% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 119,417,954 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $28,638,815,000 after purchasing an additional 14,652,150 shares in the last quarter. 69.20% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 38,234 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 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 can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 26,815 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 198,373 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $64,941,369.01. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Satya Nadella sold 38,234 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 800,668 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $262,963,391.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MSFT has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $400.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Monday, October 2nd. TD Cowen lifted their price target on Microsoft from $330.00 to $390.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 19th. Guggenheim upgraded shares of Microsoft from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, September 25th. Tigress Financial boosted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $411.00 to $433.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 2nd. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $398.00 to $400.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 20th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $384.45.

Microsoft Stock Up 0.0 %

MSFT opened at $369.67 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.75 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.79, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 0.88. The company has a fifty day moving average of $334.54 and a two-hundred day moving average of $330.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a quick ratio of 1.64 and a current ratio of 1.66. Microsoft Co. has a fifty-two week low of $219.35 and a fifty-two week high of $373.13.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its 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. The firm 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%. The business’s revenue was up 12.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.35 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 11.13 earnings per share for the current 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 paid a dividend of $0.75 per share. 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 0.81%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 15th. Microsoft’s payout ratio is 26.33%.

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.