Sawyer & Company Inc reduced its position in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 7.7% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 25,174 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 2,104 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up about 3.8% of Sawyer & Company Inc's investment portfolio, making the stock its 4th largest holding. Sawyer & Company Inc's holdings in Microsoft were worth $9,450,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.
A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of MSFT. Brady Martz Wealth Solutions LLC grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 1.4% in 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 during the last quarter. Mcdaniel Terry & Co. increased its stake in Microsoft by 6.1% in the 4th quarter. Mcdaniel Terry & Co. now owns 315,594 shares of the software giant's stock worth $133,023,000 after buying an additional 18,052 shares during the period. 1900 Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Microsoft by 3.0% in the 4th quarter. 1900 Wealth Management LLC now owns 10,140 shares of the software giant's stock worth $4,274,000 after buying an additional 294 shares during the period. Strategic Financial Services Inc. increased its stake in Microsoft by 7.8% in the 4th quarter. Strategic Financial Services Inc. now owns 17,426 shares of the software giant's stock worth $7,345,000 after buying an additional 1,268 shares during the period. Finally, Elevate Wealth Advisory Inc. increased its stake in Microsoft by 147.9% in the 4th quarter. Elevate Wealth Advisory Inc. now owns 1,748 shares of the software giant's stock worth $737,000 after buying an additional 1,043 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.
Microsoft Stock Performance
Shares of NASDAQ:MSFT traded down $9.47 during trading on Friday, hitting $524.03. 13,043,612 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 22,325,803. Microsoft Corporation has a 1-year low of $344.79 and a 1-year high of $555.45. The company has a market capitalization of $3.89 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 1.04. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $488.46 and its 200-day simple moving average is $434.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 1.36 and a current ratio of 1.37.
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. The company had revenue of $76.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $73.79 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 33.49% and a net margin of 36.15%. The business's revenue was up 18.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.95 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.
Microsoft Announces Dividend
The firm 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 $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 21st. Microsoft's payout ratio is presently 24.34%.
Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth
MSFT has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. UBS Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $650.00 price target (up previously from $600.00) on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Microsoft from $465.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Raymond James Financial increased their target price on shares of Microsoft from $490.00 to $570.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their target price on shares of Microsoft from $540.00 to $637.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Microsoft presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $609.86.
Read Our Latest Stock Report on MSFT
Insider Transactions at Microsoft
In other Microsoft news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $453.77, for a total value of $9,756,055.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 134,888 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $61,208,127.76. The trade was a 13.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Judson Althoff sold 16,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $458.18, for a total value of $7,330,880.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 98,010 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $44,906,221.80. The trade was a 14.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 60,743 shares of company stock valued at $27,520,933. Insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.
About Microsoft
(
Free Report)
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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