Kessler Investment Group LLC Sells 11,409 Shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Key Points

• Kessler Investment Group LLC significantly reduced its holdings in Microsoft by 98.2% in the first quarter, now owning only 215 shares after selling over 11,000 shares.
• Microsoft reported $3.65 earnings per share, exceeding analysts' expectations, alongside a revenue of $76.44 billion for the quarter, marking an 18.1% year-over-year growth.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.83 per share with a 0.6% yield and a payout ratio of 24.34%, set to be paid on September 11th.

Kessler Investment Group LLC lowered its stake in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 98.2% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 215 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 11,409 shares during the period. Kessler Investment Group LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $81,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Microsoft during the 4th quarter valued at about $44,343,058,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in Microsoft by 40,290.4% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 46,695,303 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $17,528,950,000 after purchasing an additional 46,579,693 shares during the period. Proficio Capital Partners LLC boosted its stake in Microsoft by 34,643.3% during the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 16,837,278 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $7,096,913,000 after purchasing an additional 16,788,816 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in Microsoft by 16.1% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 83,787,746 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $35,316,535,000 after purchasing an additional 11,600,470 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Microsoft by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 684,071,705 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $288,336,224,000 after purchasing an additional 10,431,988 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MSFT has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Westpark Capital reissued a "hold" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. UBS Group reissued a "buy" rating and set a $650.00 target price (up from $600.00) on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Wedbush upped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $600.00 to $625.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein upped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $540.00 to $637.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $609.86.

Insider Activity

In other Microsoft news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,500 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 sale, the executive vice president directly owned 134,888 shares of the company's stock, valued at $61,208,127.76. This represents a 13.75% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 43,930 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $20,339,590. This trade represents a 6.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 54,743 shares of company stock valued at $24,921,913. 0.03% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Microsoft Stock Up 1.4%

Microsoft stock traded up $7.47 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $529.24. The company had a trading volume of 18,630,436 shares, compared to its average volume of 22,304,484. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.93 trillion, a P/E ratio of 38.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.29 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. The firm's fifty day moving average is $498.05 and its 200-day moving average is $438.72. Microsoft Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $344.79 and a fifty-two week high of $555.45.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly 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 net margin of 36.15% and a return on equity of 32.44%. The company had revenue of $76.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $73.79 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.95 EPS. Microsoft's quarterly revenue was up 18.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 21st will be paid a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 21st. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.6%. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 24.34%.

Microsoft 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.