Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Sold by Shariaportfolio Inc.

Shariaportfolio Inc. decreased its holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 4.1% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 705 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 30 shares during the quarter. Shariaportfolio Inc.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $315,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MSFT. Atwater Malick LLC raised its holdings in Microsoft by 10.3% in the 1st quarter. Atwater Malick LLC now owns 17,476 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $7,353,000 after purchasing an additional 1,639 shares during the period. Firethorn Wealth Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 4.3% in the first quarter. Firethorn Wealth Partners LLC now owns 9,169 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $3,858,000 after buying an additional 376 shares in the last quarter. Asio Capital LLC lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.6% during the 1st quarter. Asio Capital LLC now owns 29,812 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $12,543,000 after buying an additional 179 shares in the last quarter. Kathmere Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Microsoft by 27.6% in the 1st quarter. Kathmere Capital Management LLC now owns 19,774 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $8,319,000 after acquiring an additional 4,279 shares during the period. Finally, Silverleafe Capital Partners LLC increased its holdings in Microsoft by 3.0% in the 1st quarter. Silverleafe Capital Partners LLC now owns 7,157 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $3,011,000 after acquiring an additional 207 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have weighed in on MSFT shares. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Microsoft from $506.00 to $548.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. DA Davidson lowered shares of Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $475.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Friday, October 18th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $500.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price target on Microsoft from $515.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and twenty-six have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Microsoft has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $503.03.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 78,353 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $408.63, for a total transaction of $32,017,386.39. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 864,327 shares in the company, valued at $353,189,942.01. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In related news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 78,353 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $408.63, for a total value of $32,017,386.39. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 864,327 shares in the company, valued at $353,189,942.01. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 17,378 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $411.85, for a total value of $7,157,129.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 150,161 shares in the company, valued at approximately $61,843,807.85. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 190,629 shares of company stock worth $77,916,485. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of MSFT stock opened at $408.46 on Tuesday. Microsoft Co. has a 52 week low of $353.35 and a 52 week high of $468.35. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.04 trillion, a PE ratio of 33.70, a PEG ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a current ratio of 1.30. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $420.59 and its 200-day moving average is $424.74.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.10 by $0.20. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.61% and a return on equity of 34.56%. The firm had revenue of $65.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $64.57 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.99 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 12.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.83 per share. This is an increase from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.81%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is currently 27.39%.

Microsoft declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback plan on Monday, September 16th that authorizes the company to repurchase $60.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the software giant to buy up to 1.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

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.