Evanson Asset Management LLC Cuts Stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Evanson Asset Management LLC reduced its stake in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 7.8% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 28,807 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 2,447 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises approximately 1.0% of Evanson Asset Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 22nd largest position. Evanson Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $12,876,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Friedenthal Financial purchased a new stake in Microsoft during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $45,000. Richardson Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Microsoft by 1,290.0% during the 1st quarter. Richardson Capital Management LLC now owns 139 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $59,000 after buying an additional 129 shares in the last quarter. Neo Ivy Capital Management purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at $58,000. Bellevue Group AG grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 47.5% in the first quarter. Bellevue Group AG now owns 180 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $76,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. Finally, PayPay Securities Corp grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 23.7% in the fourth quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 188 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $71,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 14,398 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $417.41, for a total value of $6,009,869.18. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 786,933 shares in the company, valued at $328,473,703.53. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.03% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of Microsoft stock opened at $408.90 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $3.04 trillion, a P/E ratio of 35.40, a P/E/G ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a current ratio of 1.27, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. Microsoft Co. has a 12 month low of $309.45 and a 12 month high of $468.35. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $429.38 and its 200-day moving average price is $422.91.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $2.95 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.90 by $0.05. Microsoft had a return on equity of 35.95% and a net margin of 35.96%. The firm had revenue of $64.73 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $64.38 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.69 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 13.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 15th will be paid a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 15th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.73%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.97%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MSFT has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Macquarie raised their target price on shares of Microsoft from $460.00 to $475.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, May 17th. Tigress Financial raised their price target on Microsoft from $475.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 13th. TD Cowen raised their price target on Microsoft from $470.00 to $495.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. Argus raised their price target on Microsoft from $475.00 to $526.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. Finally, New Street Research assumed coverage on Microsoft in a research report on Monday, June 10th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $570.00 price target for the company. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $494.72.

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.