Essex Financial Services Inc. Sells 1,960 Shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Essex Financial Services Inc. decreased its holdings in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 1.9% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 103,895 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 1,960 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for about 2.8% of Essex Financial Services Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest position. Essex Financial Services Inc.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $39,001,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. WFA Asset Management Corp lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 27.0% in the 1st quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 1,016 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $427,000 after acquiring an additional 216 shares in the last quarter. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.3% in the 2nd quarter. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. now owns 12,658 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $5,658,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Discipline Wealth Solutions LLC lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 410.4% in the 3rd quarter. Discipline Wealth Solutions LLC now owns 2,659 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $1,144,000 after acquiring an additional 2,138 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Group Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Wealth Group Ltd. now owns 2,374 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,000,000 after purchasing an additional 28 shares during the period. Finally, Tallon Kerry Patrick acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,375,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Trading Down 0.1%

Shares of Microsoft stock opened at $521.77 on Tuesday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $498.05 and its 200-day simple moving average is $438.72. The company has a market cap of $3.88 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.25, a PEG ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. Microsoft Corporation has a 1 year low of $344.79 and a 1 year high of $555.45.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $3.65 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.35 by $0.30. The business had revenue of $76.44 billion during 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%. Microsoft’s revenue was up 18.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.95 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $650.00 price objective (up previously from $600.00) on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $480.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Benchmark reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $600.00 to $650.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $609.86.

Insider Transactions 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 value of $7,330,880.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly 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 document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Amy Coleman sold 13,243 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $452.01, for a total value of $5,985,968.43. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 43,100 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,481,631. The trade was a 23.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 54,743 shares of company stock valued at $24,921,913. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

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.