Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Sold by Corundum Group Inc.

Key Points

• Corundum Group Inc. reduced its stake in Microsoft by 10.1%, now holding 15,930 shares valued at approximately $5.98 million, making Microsoft its 11th largest investment.
• Several analysts have increased their price targets for Microsoft, with Cantor Fitzgerald raising it to $639 and UBS to $650, while the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy".
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.83 per share, set to be paid on September 11, reflecting a yield of 0.6% and a payout ratio of 24.34%.

Corundum Group Inc. lessened its stake in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 10.1% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 15,930 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 1,797 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up approximately 2.9% of Corundum Group Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 11th biggest holding. Corundum Group Inc.'s holdings in Microsoft were worth $5,980,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Brady Martz Wealth Solutions LLC raised its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 95 shares during the period. Mcdaniel Terry & Co. increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 6.1% in the fourth quarter. Mcdaniel Terry & Co. now owns 315,594 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $133,023,000 after purchasing an additional 18,052 shares during the period. Strategic Financial Services Inc. raised its holdings 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 valued at $7,345,000 after buying an additional 1,268 shares during the last quarter. Elevate Wealth Advisory Inc. raised its holdings 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 valued at $737,000 after buying an additional 1,043 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Intellus Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $16,075,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on MSFT. Cantor Fitzgerald lifted their price target on Microsoft from $581.00 to $639.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. UBS Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $650.00 price target (up previously from $600.00) on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on Microsoft from $600.00 to $630.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Mizuho lifted their price target on Microsoft from $540.00 to $625.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $480.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $609.86.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 3,000 shares of Microsoft 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 owned 43,930 shares of the company's stock, valued at $20,339,590. This trade represents a 6.39% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Judson Althoff sold 16,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on Monday, May 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $458.18, for a total transaction of $7,330,880.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 98,010 shares of the company's stock, valued at $44,906,221.80. This trade represents a 14.03% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 54,743 shares of company stock worth $24,921,913. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Microsoft Trading Down 1.5%

Microsoft stock opened at $527.75 on Wednesday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $492.99 and a 200 day moving average price of $436.40. Microsoft Corporation has a 52 week low of $344.79 and a 52 week high of $555.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 1.35 and a current ratio of 1.35. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.92 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.69, a P/E/G ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 1.06.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $3.65 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $76.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $73.79 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.95 EPS. The company's revenue was up 18.1% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 21st will be paid a dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend 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 (DPR) is 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.

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