Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Sold by Mattern Capital Management LLC

Mattern Capital Management LLC reduced its position in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 3.9% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 37,432 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 1,500 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up approximately 1.8% of Mattern Capital Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 3rd biggest position. Mattern Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $14,051,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $44,343,058,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 40,290.4% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 46,695,303 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $17,528,950,000 after purchasing an additional 46,579,693 shares in the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 34,643.3% in the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 16,837,278 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $7,096,913,000 after purchasing an additional 16,788,816 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 16.1% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 83,787,746 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $35,316,535,000 after purchasing an additional 11,600,470 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 684,071,705 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $288,336,224,000 after purchasing an additional 10,431,988 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on MSFT. DA Davidson upped their price target on Microsoft from $600.00 to $650.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Wells Fargo & Company reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $650.00 price objective (up from $600.00) on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday. Barclays increased their price objective on Microsoft from $550.00 to $625.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday. Cantor Fitzgerald increased their price objective on Microsoft from $581.00 to $639.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Wedbush increased their price objective on Microsoft from $600.00 to $625.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $609.86.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In other news, EVP Judson Althoff sold 16,000 shares of Microsoft 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 transaction, the executive vice president owned 98,010 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $44,906,221.80. The trade was a 14.03% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 3,000 shares of Microsoft 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 transaction, the executive vice president directly 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. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 54,743 shares of company stock worth $24,921,913. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Trading Up 2.2%

NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $535.64 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.98 trillion, a PE ratio of 39.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a quick ratio of 1.35, a current ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. Microsoft Corporation has a 52-week low of $344.79 and a 52-week high of $555.45. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $491.65 and a 200-day simple moving average of $435.76.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $3.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.35 by $0.30. The business had revenue of $76.44 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $73.79 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 32.44% and a net margin of 36.15%. The business’s revenue was up 18.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.95 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared 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 0.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 21st. Microsoft’s payout ratio is 24.34%.

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.