Kanawha Capital Management LLC Has $78.45 Million Stock Position in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Kanawha Capital Management LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 0.0% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 208,982 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 32 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up about 6.1% of Kanawha Capital Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its largest holding. Kanawha Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $78,450,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Fosun International Ltd lifted its stake in Microsoft by 0.3% during the first quarter. Fosun International Ltd now owns 6,633 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $2,490,000 after purchasing an additional 23 shares during the last quarter. Retirement Financial Solutions LLC lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Retirement Financial Solutions LLC now owns 1,050 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $443,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. Kuhn & Co Investment Counsel lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Kuhn & Co Investment Counsel now owns 3,286 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $1,385,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Alliance Wealth Management Group lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Alliance Wealth Management Group now owns 5,617 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $2,368,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Guidance Point Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Guidance Point Advisors LLC now owns 4,294 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $1,811,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Cantor Fitzgerald boosted their target price on Microsoft from $581.00 to $639.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Scotiabank boosted their target price on Microsoft from $500.00 to $650.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on Microsoft from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 28th. Citigroup boosted their target price on Microsoft from $605.00 to $613.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Finally, Oppenheimer boosted their price target on Microsoft from $600.00 to $630.00 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 assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $609.86.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In other news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $61,208,127.76. The trade was a 13.75% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Judson Althoff sold 16,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 19th. The shares were 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 $44,906,221.80. This trade represents a 14.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 46,350 shares of company stock valued at $21,493,447 in the last ninety days. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of MSFT opened at $520.17 on Friday. 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 business’s 50 day moving average price is $502.60 and its 200-day moving average price is $441.01. Microsoft Corporation has a 52 week low of $344.79 and a 52 week high of $555.45. The stock has a market cap of $3.87 trillion, a P/E ratio of 38.14, a P/E/G ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 1.06.

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

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 21st will be given 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 of this dividend is Thursday, August 21st. Microsoft’s payout ratio is currently 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.