Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Holdings Lowered by Sigma Planning Corp

Sigma Planning Corp trimmed its position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 5.5% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 170,856 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 9,866 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for approximately 2.1% of Sigma Planning Corp’s holdings, making the stock its 3rd biggest holding. Sigma Planning Corp’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $58,184,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Sightline Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.9% during the 2nd quarter. Sightline Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,337 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $962,000 after purchasing an additional 29 shares during the last quarter. Stevens Capital Partners increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 2.0% during the 2nd quarter. Stevens Capital Partners now owns 1,516 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $516,000 after purchasing an additional 29 shares during the last quarter. Eagle Bluffs Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.3% during the 2nd quarter. Eagle Bluffs Wealth Management LLC now owns 10,577 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $3,602,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.8% during the 1st quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL now owns 4,208 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $1,213,000 after purchasing an additional 32 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Arbor Capital Management Inc. ADV increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.5% during the 1st quarter. Arbor Capital Management Inc. ADV now owns 7,166 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $2,074,000 after purchasing an additional 33 shares during the last quarter. 69.20% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $400.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Monday, October 2nd. Fundamental Research set a $298.10 target price on shares of Microsoft and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 9th. Wedbush increased their target price on shares of Microsoft from $400.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday. Raymond James increased their target price on shares of Microsoft from $320.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, July 24th. Finally, HSBC raised shares of Microsoft from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $347.00 to $413.00 in a report on Thursday, October 26th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $385.11.

Microsoft Stock Down 1.7 %

Shares of MSFT opened at $369.85 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $2.75 trillion, a PE ratio of 35.80, a P/E/G ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 0.88. The business has a fifty day moving average of $336.17 and a 200 day moving average of $331.96. Microsoft Co. has a 52-week low of $219.35 and a 52-week high of $376.35. 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 (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 24th. The software giant reported $2.99 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.35 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 11.13 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 14th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 16th will be paid a $0.75 dividend. This is a positive change from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 15th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.81%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 29.04%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

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.