Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Sold by Ipswich Investment Management Co. Inc.

Ipswich Investment Management Co. Inc. lowered its position in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 1.3% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 63,815 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 829 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for 5.9% of Ipswich Investment Management Co. Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its biggest position. Ipswich Investment Management Co. Inc.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $23,956,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of MSFT. Ball & Co Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Microsoft during the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth $38,000. LSV Asset Management bought a new position in Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth $44,000. IFS Advisors LLC increased its position in Microsoft by 50.0% during the 1st 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 period. Finally, Fairway Wealth LLC bought a new position in Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth $62,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Trading Down 0.0%

Shares of MSFT stock opened at $505.62 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $3.76 trillion, a P/E ratio of 39.07, a PEG ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 1.04. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $474.88 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $427.28. 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 fifty-two week low of $344.79 and a fifty-two week high of $508.30.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.94 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 21st will be issued 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 yield of 0.66%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 25.66%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In related news, EVP Judson Althoff sold 16,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $463.00, for a total value of $1,389,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 43,930 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,339,590. This trade represents a 6.39% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 135,743 shares of company stock valued at $60,224,683 in the last three months. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have weighed in on MSFT. Barclays increased their price objective on Microsoft from $430.00 to $494.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Benchmark reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on Microsoft from $485.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Bank of America lowered their price objective on Microsoft from $510.00 to $480.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Finally, Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $530.00 price target (up previously from $482.00) on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $538.04.

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.