Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Sold by Essex LLC

Essex LLC lowered its stake in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 0.5% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 15,632 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 77 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises 1.3% of Essex LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 14th largest position. Essex LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $5,868,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Newton One Investments LLC grew its stake in Microsoft by 66.7% during the 1st quarter. Newton One Investments LLC now owns 75 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Ball & Co Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Microsoft during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $31,000. LSV Asset Management acquired a new stake in Microsoft during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $44,000. IFS Advisors LLC grew its stake in Microsoft by 50.0% during the 1st quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 150 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $57,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fairway Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft in the 4th quarter worth approximately $62,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. TD Cowen lifted their target price on Microsoft from $580.00 to $640.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their target price on Microsoft from $525.00 to $640.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. DA Davidson lifted their target price on Microsoft from $600.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $650.00 target price (up previously from $600.00) on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Microsoft from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 2nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $609.86.

Microsoft Trading Down 1.6%

Shares of Microsoft stock opened at $520.58 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.35, a current ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The firm has a market cap of $3.87 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 1.06. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $500.51 and a 200-day simple moving average of $439.91. Microsoft Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $344.79 and a fifty-two week high of $555.45.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $3.65 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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%. The company’s revenue was up 18.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.95 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Judson Althoff sold 16,000 shares of the business’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 sale, the executive vice president directly owned 98,010 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $44,906,221.80. The trade was a 14.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $453.77, for a total value 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 sold a total of 46,350 shares of company stock worth $21,493,447 over the last 90 days. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by company 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.