Folger Nolan Fleming Douglas Capital Management Inc. Sells 915 Shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Folger Nolan Fleming Douglas Capital Management Inc. cut its holdings in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 1.0% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 94,727 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 915 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises about 4.0% of Folger Nolan Fleming Douglas Capital Management Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 5th largest position. Folger Nolan Fleming Douglas Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $35,560,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Ball & Co Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth about $38,000. LSV Asset Management purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth about $44,000. Fairway Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth about $62,000. Finally, IFS Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 50.0% during the first quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 150 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $57,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $505.82 on Wednesday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $473.43 and its 200-day simple moving average is $426.73. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.76 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 1.37 and a quick ratio of 1.36. Microsoft Corporation has a 12 month low of $344.79 and a 12 month high of $508.30.

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

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 21st will be given a dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 21st. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.66%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is currently 25.66%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently issued reports on MSFT. Scotiabank raised their price target on Microsoft from $470.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Cantor Fitzgerald raised their price target on Microsoft from $502.00 to $512.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Evercore ISI set a $515.00 price target on Microsoft and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. DA Davidson lifted their price objective on Microsoft from $500.00 to $600.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Finally, Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $534.14.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 75,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $436.05, for a total transaction of $32,703,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 476,999 shares in the company, valued at $207,995,413.95. The trade was a 13.59% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,500 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $453.77, for a total value of $9,756,055.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 134,888 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $61,208,127.76. This represents a 13.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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. 0.03% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Microsoft Company 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.