Continuum Advisory LLC Trims Stake in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Key Points

• Continuum Advisory LLC reduced its stake in Microsoft by 1.3%, retaining 43,275 shares worth approximately $16.25 million, making it the fund's 7th largest position.
• Equities analysts are bullish on Microsoft, with multiple upgrades in price targets; Scotiabank raised its target to $650 and adjusted ratings to "sector outperform."
• Microsoft announced a quarterly dividend of $0.83 per share, representing a 0.6% yield, to be paid on September 11th.

Continuum Advisory LLC cut its holdings in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 1.3% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 43,275 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 548 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises 2.1% of Continuum Advisory LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 7th largest position. Continuum Advisory LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $16,245,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of MSFT. Brady Martz Wealth Solutions LLC boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 1.4% during the first quarter. Brady Martz Wealth Solutions LLC now owns 6,650 shares of the software giant's stock worth $2,496,000 after purchasing an additional 95 shares in the last quarter. Mcdaniel Terry & Co. boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 6.1% during the fourth quarter. Mcdaniel Terry & Co. now owns 315,594 shares of the software giant's stock worth $133,023,000 after purchasing an additional 18,052 shares in the last quarter. 1900 Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 3.0% during the fourth quarter. 1900 Wealth Management LLC now owns 10,140 shares of the software giant's stock worth $4,274,000 after purchasing an additional 294 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Financial Services Inc. boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 7.8% during the fourth quarter. Strategic Financial Services Inc. now owns 17,426 shares of the software giant's stock worth $7,345,000 after purchasing an additional 1,268 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Elevate Wealth Advisory Inc. boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 147.9% during the fourth quarter. Elevate Wealth Advisory Inc. now owns 1,748 shares of the software giant's stock worth $737,000 after purchasing an additional 1,043 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Scotiabank lifted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, July 28th. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $600.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Microsoft from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday. Finally, Mizuho raised their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $540.00 to $625.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $609.86.

Microsoft Stock Down 1.8%

Shares of MSFT stock opened at $524.11 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 1.36 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. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $489.94 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $434.88. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.90 trillion, a P/E ratio of 38.42, a PEG ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 1.06.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $3.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.35 by $0.30. The firm had revenue of $76.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $73.79 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 36.15% and a return on equity of 32.44%. The company's revenue was up 18.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.95 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

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 paid a dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 21st. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.6%. Microsoft's payout ratio is currently 24.34%.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In other news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 3,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $463.00, for a total transaction of $1,389,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 43,930 shares in the company, valued at $20,339,590. The trade was a 6.39% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Amy Coleman sold 13,243 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $452.01, for a total transaction of $5,985,968.43. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 43,100 shares in the company, valued at $19,481,631. This represents a 23.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 60,743 shares of company stock worth $27,520,933 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.

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