Stanley Laman Group Ltd. Lowers Stock Holdings in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Stanley Laman Group Ltd. reduced its stake in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 1.2% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 32,391 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 403 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up approximately 1.9% of Stanley Laman Group Ltd.’s holdings, making the stock its largest holding. Stanley Laman Group Ltd.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $12,159,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Everhart Financial Group Inc. grew its position in Microsoft by 1.6% during the 1st quarter. Everhart Financial Group Inc. now owns 48,952 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $18,376,000 after acquiring an additional 783 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Financial Group LLC grew its position in Microsoft by 1.4% during the 1st quarter. Marshall Financial Group LLC now owns 11,780 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $4,422,000 after acquiring an additional 158 shares during the last quarter. Puff Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Microsoft by 18.5% during the 1st quarter. Puff Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,026 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $761,000 after acquiring an additional 317 shares during the last quarter. Hilltop Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in Microsoft by 4.1% during the 1st quarter. Hilltop Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 5,289 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,986,000 after acquiring an additional 209 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sanchez Wealth Management Group grew its position in Microsoft by 1.4% during the 1st quarter. Sanchez Wealth Management Group now owns 9,138 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $3,430,000 after acquiring an additional 129 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently commented on MSFT. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on Microsoft from $480.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. TD Securities increased their price target on Microsoft from $475.00 to $490.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and set a $530.00 price target (up from $482.00) on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Microsoft from $465.00 to $475.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Westpark Capital reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $534.14.

Microsoft Stock Performance

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

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

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.66%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 21st. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.66%.

Insider Activity

In other Microsoft news, EVP Judson Althoff sold 16,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $458.18, for a total transaction of $7,330,880.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 98,010 shares in the company, valued at approximately $44,906,221.80. This represents a 14.03% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 approximately $61,208,127.76. This trade represents a 13.75% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 135,743 shares of company stock worth $60,224,683. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by 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.