Towneley Capital Management Inc DE Sells 1,977 Shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Towneley Capital Management Inc DE reduced its position in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 73.5% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 711 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 1,977 shares during the quarter. Towneley Capital Management Inc DE’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $267,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of MSFT. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC raised its holdings in Microsoft by 0.5% during the 1st quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC now owns 1,427,989 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $536,053,000 after buying an additional 7,494 shares during the period. GGM Financials LLC raised its holdings in Microsoft by 27.7% during the 1st quarter. GGM Financials LLC now owns 2,959 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $1,111,000 after buying an additional 642 shares during the period. OLIO Financial Planning raised its holdings in Microsoft by 6.9% during the 1st quarter. OLIO Financial Planning now owns 1,294 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $486,000 after buying an additional 83 shares during the period. Seneca House Advisors raised its holdings in Microsoft by 2.9% during the 1st quarter. Seneca House Advisors now owns 30,784 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $11,556,000 after buying an additional 866 shares during the period. Finally, Stokes Capital Advisors LLC increased its stake in Microsoft by 2.6% in the first quarter. Stokes Capital Advisors LLC now owns 39,384 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $14,784,000 after purchasing an additional 982 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In related news, EVP Amy Coleman sold 13,243 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $452.01, for a total transaction of $5,985,968.43. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 43,100 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,481,631. This represents a 23.50% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $463.00, for a total value of $1,389,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 43,930 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,339,590. This represents a 6.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 135,743 shares of company stock worth $60,224,683. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Microsoft Stock Up 1.5%

Shares of NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $498.25 on Monday. 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 Corporation has a 1 year low of $344.79 and a 1 year high of $500.76. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.70 trillion, a P/E ratio of 38.50, a PEG ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 1.04. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $461.41 and a 200-day simple moving average of $423.48.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.22 by $0.24. The firm had revenue of $70.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $68.54 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 32.74% and a net margin of 35.79%. Microsoft’s quarterly revenue was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.94 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 21st will be paid a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.67%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 21st. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 25.66%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have weighed in on MSFT shares. UBS Group reiterated a “positive” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Monday, June 30th. Citigroup increased their target price on Microsoft from $540.00 to $605.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 11th. Guggenheim reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $524.71.

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.