Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Sold by Sapient Capital LLC

Sapient Capital LLC lessened its stake in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 0.5% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 630,205 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 2,979 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up about 4.7% of Sapient Capital LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 4th biggest holding. Sapient Capital LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $236,572,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MSFT. Fosun International Ltd lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.3% during the first quarter. Fosun International Ltd now owns 6,633 shares of the software giant's stock worth $2,490,000 after purchasing an additional 23 shares in the last quarter. Muirfield Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Muirfield Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,427 shares of the software giant's stock worth $1,866,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. Retirement Financial Solutions LLC lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Retirement Financial Solutions LLC now owns 1,050 shares of the software giant's stock worth $443,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. Kuhn & Co Investment Counsel lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Kuhn & Co Investment Counsel now owns 3,286 shares of the software giant's stock worth $1,385,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Alliance Wealth Management Group lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Alliance Wealth Management Group now owns 5,617 shares of the software giant's stock worth $2,368,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of MSFT opened at $503.32 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The firm has a market cap of $3.74 trillion, a PE ratio of 38.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 1.04. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $470.64 and its 200-day simple moving average is $425.67. Microsoft Corporation has a 12-month low of $344.79 and a 12-month high of $506.78.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.22 by $0.24. The business had revenue of $70.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $68.54 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.79% and a return on equity of 32.74%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.94 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 21st will be given a dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 21st. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.66%. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.66%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently issued reports on MSFT shares. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $525.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday, May 23rd. Morgan Stanley reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $530.00 price target (up previously from $482.00) on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. Westpark Capital reissued a "hold" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Evercore ISI set a $515.00 target price on shares of Microsoft and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Finally, TD Securities raised their target price on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $490.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $534.14.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other news, EVP Amy Coleman sold 13,243 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $452.01, for a total transaction of $5,985,968.43. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 43,100 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,481,631. This trade represents a 23.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $453.77, for a total transaction of $9,756,055.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 134,888 shares in the company, valued at approximately $61,208,127.76. This trade represents a 13.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 135,743 shares of company stock valued at $60,224,683. 0.03% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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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