Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Sold by Empirical Asset Management LLC

Empirical Asset Management LLC trimmed its stake in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 2.5% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,698 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 121 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises 1.4% of Empirical Asset Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 12th largest position. Empirical Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $1,600,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. DGS Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Microsoft by 19.9% during the first quarter. DGS Capital Management LLC now owns 14,342 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $4,422,000 after buying an additional 2,383 shares in the last quarter. IFM Investors Pty Ltd lifted its position in Microsoft by 20.8% during the first quarter. IFM Investors Pty Ltd now owns 1,138,469 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $351,001,000 after buying an additional 196,338 shares in the last quarter. Altus Wealth Group LLC lifted its position in Microsoft by 1.2% during the first quarter. Altus Wealth Group LLC now owns 12,712 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $3,919,000 after buying an additional 152 shares in the last quarter. Powell Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in Microsoft by 16.2% during the first quarter. Powell Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,578 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $795,000 after buying an additional 359 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Onyx Bridge Wealth Group LLC lifted its position in Microsoft by 8.2% during the first quarter. Onyx Bridge Wealth Group LLC now owns 6,782 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,921,000 after buying an additional 512 shares in the last quarter. 69.20% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 38,234 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $328.43, for a total transaction 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 approximately $262,963,391.24. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 38,234 shares of the company’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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 800,668 shares in the company, valued at $262,963,391.24. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 26,815 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $327.37, for a total transaction of $8,778,426.55. Following the sale, 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 owned by corporate insiders.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $369.85 on Monday. Microsoft Co. has a one year low of $219.35 and a one year high of $376.35. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $336.17 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $331.96. 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 stock has a market cap of $2.75 trillion, a PE ratio of 35.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 0.88.

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, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.35 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 11.13 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 14th. Investors 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 15th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.81%. Microsoft’s payout ratio is presently 29.04%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MSFT has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Fundamental Research set a $298.10 target price on Microsoft and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $385.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Friday, September 22nd. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on Microsoft from $400.00 to $425.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 25th. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $400.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Monday, October 2nd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on Microsoft from $385.00 to $400.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 26th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $385.11.

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.