Copeland Capital Management LLC Has $20.67 Million Stake in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Key Points

• Copeland Capital Management LLC reduced its stake in Microsoft Corporation by 2.1%, leaving them with 55,065 shares valued at approximately $20.67 million.
• In the most recent earning report, Microsoft posted an EPS of $3.65, exceeding expectations, and achieved $76.44 billion in revenue, an 18.1% increase year-over-year.
• Microsoft has a current dividend yield of 0.6% and plans to pay a quarterly dividend of $0.83 on September 11th to investors of record by August 21st.

Copeland Capital Management LLC lessened its holdings in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 2.1% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 55,065 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 1,206 shares during the period. Copeland Capital Management LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $20,671,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of MSFT. Ball & Co Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. Newton One Investments LLC lifted its position 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 worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares during the period. LSV Asset Management acquired a new stake in Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth $44,000. Fairway Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the 4th quarter valued at about $62,000. Finally, IFS Advisors LLC raised its position in Microsoft by 50.0% in the first quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 150 shares of the software giant's stock worth $57,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on MSFT. Needham & Company LLC reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $650.00 price target (up from $600.00) on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Wedbush boosted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $600.00 to $625.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of Microsoft from $480.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Finally, Benchmark reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $609.86.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 3,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $463.00, for a total transaction of $1,389,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 43,930 shares of the company's stock, valued at $20,339,590. This trade represents a 6.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Amy Coleman sold 13,243 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $452.01, for a total value of $5,985,968.43. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 43,100 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $19,481,631. The trade was a 23.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 54,743 shares of company stock worth $24,921,913. 0.03% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Microsoft Trading Up 0.2%

Shares of NASDAQ:MSFT traded up $1.20 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $522.04. The company had a trading volume of 15,514,819 shares, compared to its average volume of 19,782,852. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $496.85 and a 200 day simple moving average of $438.17. The stock has a market cap of $3.88 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.27, a PEG ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. Microsoft Corporation has a 12 month low of $344.79 and a 12 month 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 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.35 by $0.30. Microsoft had a net margin of 36.15% and a return on equity of 32.44%. The business had revenue of $76.44 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $73.79 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.95 EPS. Microsoft's revenue for the quarter was up 18.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

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