Microsoft Corporation $MSFT Shares Sold by Cannon Advisors Inc.

Cannon Advisors Inc. reduced its stake in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 3.1% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 8,368 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 267 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for about 2.9% of Cannon Advisors Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 12th biggest position. Cannon Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $3,141,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Newton One Investments LLC raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 66.7% in the 1st quarter. Newton One Investments LLC now owns 75 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares during the period. Ball & Co Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at about $31,000. LSV Asset Management acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth about $44,000. IFS Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 50.0% in the 1st quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 150 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $57,000 after buying an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fairway Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at about $62,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Price Performance

NASDAQ MSFT opened at $520.17 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 1.35 and a current ratio of 1.35. Microsoft Corporation has a 52-week low of $344.79 and a 52-week high of $555.45. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $502.60 and a 200 day simple moving average of $441.19. The stock has a market cap of $3.87 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.14, a PEG ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 1.06.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $3.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.35 by $0.30. The firm had revenue of $76.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 company earned $2.95 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The firm 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 dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 24.34%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MSFT has been the topic of several analyst reports. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Microsoft from $530.00 to $582.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $465.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Wall Street Zen upgraded Microsoft from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 2nd. UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $650.00 price target (up from $600.00) on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Oppenheimer raised their target price on Microsoft from $600.00 to $630.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Two research 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 company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $609.86.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,850 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $527.32, for a total transaction of $2,557,502.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 39,111 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,624,012.52. The trade was a 11.03% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $453.77, for a total value of $9,756,055.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 134,888 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $61,208,127.76. This represents a 13.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 30,350 shares of company stock valued at $14,162,567 over the last ninety days. 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.