Buffington Mohr McNeal Sells 6,566 Shares of Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Buffington Mohr McNeal decreased its stake in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 8.7% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 68,770 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 6,566 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises about 5.1% of Buffington Mohr McNeal’s portfolio, making the stock its 4th biggest holding. Buffington Mohr McNeal’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $25,815,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in MSFT. WFA Asset Management Corp increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 27.0% during the 1st quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 1,016 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $427,000 after acquiring an additional 216 shares during the last quarter. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.3% during the 2nd quarter. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. now owns 12,658 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $5,658,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Discipline Wealth Solutions LLC increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 410.4% during the 3rd quarter. Discipline Wealth Solutions LLC now owns 2,659 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,144,000 after acquiring an additional 2,138 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Group Ltd. grew its holdings in Microsoft by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Wealth Group Ltd. now owns 2,374 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $1,000,000 after buying an additional 28 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tallon Kerry Patrick acquired a new position in Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at $1,375,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,850 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $527.32, for a total value of $2,557,502.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 39,111 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,624,012.52. This represents a 11.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,500 shares of the 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 134,888 shares in the company, valued at approximately $61,208,127.76. The trade was a 13.75% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 30,350 shares of company stock worth $14,162,567. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Trading Down 0.6%

NASDAQ MSFT opened at $517.10 on Tuesday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $503.49 and a 200 day simple moving average of $441.90. Microsoft Corporation has a one year low of $344.79 and a one year high of $555.45. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.84 trillion, a P/E ratio of 37.91, a P/E/G ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 1.35.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its 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. Microsoft had a return on equity of 32.44% and a net margin of 36.15%. The business had revenue of $76.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $73.79 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.95 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 18.1% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Shareholders 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 yield of 0.6%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is presently 24.34%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MSFT has been the topic of a number of research reports. Raymond James Financial upped their price objective on Microsoft from $490.00 to $570.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, July 28th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, May 1st. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on Microsoft from $550.00 to $650.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. DA Davidson upped their price objective on Microsoft from $600.00 to $650.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Scotiabank upped their price objective on Microsoft from $500.00 to $650.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $612.54.

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.