Kennicott Capital Management LLC Sells 186 Shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Kennicott Capital Management LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 19.7% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 756 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 186 shares during the quarter. Kennicott Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $284,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of MSFT. Ball & Co Wealth Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at about $31,000. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Microsoft in the 4th quarter worth $38,000. LSV Asset Management bought a new position in Microsoft during the 4th quarter valued at $44,000. Fairway Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth $62,000. Finally, IFS Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Microsoft by 50.0% in the 1st quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 150 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $57,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $511.70 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $476.35 and its two-hundred day moving average is $427.88. Microsoft Corporation has a 52 week low of $344.79 and a 52 week high of $513.37. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.80 trillion, a P/E ratio of 39.54, a PEG ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a current ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its 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 net margin of 35.79% and a return on equity of 32.74%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.94 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 21st will be paid a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.65%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 21st. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 25.66%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently weighed in on MSFT. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Microsoft from $565.00 to $585.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 25th. Piper Sandler increased their target price on Microsoft from $475.00 to $600.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $581.00 price target (up previously from $512.00) on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday. Raymond James Financial lifted their target price on Microsoft from $480.00 to $490.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Evercore ISI set a $515.00 target price on Microsoft and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $538.04.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 43,930 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,339,590. This represents a 6.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction 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 the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the executive vice president directly owned 134,888 shares in the company, valued at $61,208,127.76. This trade represents a 13.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 135,743 shares of company stock worth $60,224,683 in the last 90 days. 0.03% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.