Exeter Financial LLC Acquires 135 Shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Exeter Financial LLC boosted its stake in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 0.7% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 19,847 shares of the software giant’s stock after buying an additional 135 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up approximately 3.3% of Exeter Financial LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 5th largest holding. Exeter Financial LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $7,450,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Webster Bank N. A. lifted its stake in Microsoft by 3.1% in the 1st quarter. Webster Bank N. A. now owns 74,142 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $27,832,000 after purchasing an additional 2,201 shares in the last quarter. Sage Capital Advisors llc grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 4.3% in the first quarter. Sage Capital Advisors llc now owns 43,940 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $16,494,000 after acquiring an additional 1,802 shares in the last quarter. Moody National Bank Trust Division grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 0.3% during the first quarter. Moody National Bank Trust Division now owns 84,096 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $31,569,000 after purchasing an additional 214 shares in the last quarter. Agate Pass Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 2.1% during the first quarter. Agate Pass Investment Management LLC now owns 24,317 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $9,128,000 after purchasing an additional 511 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 27.4% during the first quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 44,839 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $16,832,000 after purchasing an additional 9,634 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $453.77, for a total transaction of $9,756,055.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 134,888 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $61,208,127.76. This represents a 13.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $460.01, for a total transaction of $460,010.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 47,058 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,647,150.58. This trade represents a 2.08% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 135,743 shares of company stock worth $60,224,683. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Price Performance

NASDAQ MSFT opened at $490.11 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.64 trillion, a P/E ratio of 37.88, a P/E/G ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 1.03. Microsoft Corporation has a 1 year low of $344.79 and a 1 year high of $491.85. The business’s fifty day moving average is $441.90 and its two-hundred day moving average is $420.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 1.36 and a current ratio of 1.37.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.22 by $0.24. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.79% and a return on equity of 32.74%. The firm had revenue of $70.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $68.54 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.94 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.68%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 21st. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is currently 25.66%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently commented on MSFT. Raymond James Financial upped their target price on shares of Microsoft from $480.00 to $490.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Benchmark reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Evercore ISI set a $515.00 target price on Microsoft and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday, June 4th. Finally, Tigress Financial lifted their price target on Microsoft from $550.00 to $595.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $515.68.

Microsoft 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.