Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) Stake Trimmed by Chung Wu Investment Group LLC

Chung Wu Investment Group LLC reduced its holdings in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 2.6% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 17,302 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 460 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up 7.8% of Chung Wu Investment Group LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 3rd biggest position. Chung Wu Investment Group LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $6,495,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. KG&L Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 15.8% in the 1st quarter. KG&L Capital Management LLC now owns 27,959 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $10,494,000 after acquiring an additional 3,817 shares during the last quarter. DLK Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 2.2% in the first quarter. DLK Investment Management LLC now owns 36,571 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $13,730,000 after purchasing an additional 778 shares during the period. Balefire LLC grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 13.3% in the first quarter. Balefire LLC now owns 8,973 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $3,368,000 after purchasing an additional 1,051 shares during the period. KPP Advisory Services LLC increased its position in Microsoft by 18.0% during the first quarter. KPP Advisory Services LLC now owns 32,461 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $12,186,000 after purchasing an additional 4,948 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Goldstein Advisors LLC raised its stake in Microsoft by 2.0% during the first quarter. Goldstein Advisors LLC now owns 10,857 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $4,075,000 after purchasing an additional 218 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on MSFT shares. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Microsoft from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, August 2nd. UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $650.00 target price (up previously from $600.00) on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. KeyCorp raised Microsoft from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $630.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $605.00 to $613.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $609.86.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of MSFT stock opened at $524.94 on Thursday. Microsoft Corporation has a 1 year low of $344.79 and a 1 year high of $555.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 1.35 and a current ratio of 1.35. The firm has a market cap of $3.90 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.49, a PEG ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.06. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $494.34 and its two-hundred day moving average is $437.01.

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

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 21st will be paid a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 21st. Microsoft’s payout ratio is currently 24.34%.

Insider Activity

In other Microsoft news, EVP Judson Althoff sold 16,000 shares of the firm’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 transaction, the executive vice president owned 98,010 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $44,906,221.80. This trade represents a 14.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $463.00, for a total transaction of $1,389,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 43,930 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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 valued at $24,921,913. 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.