Summa Corp. Lowers Position in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Summa Corp. trimmed its stake in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 18.2% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 28,066 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 6,240 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up about 6.1% of Summa Corp.'s portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest holding. Summa Corp.'s holdings in Microsoft were worth $10,536,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in MSFT. Newton One Investments LLC increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 66.7% during the first quarter. Newton One Investments LLC now owns 75 shares of the software giant's stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 30 shares during the period. Ball & Co Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth $31,000. LSV Asset Management acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth $44,000. IFS Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 50.0% during the first quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 150 shares of the software giant's stock worth $57,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the period. Finally, Fairway Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth $62,000. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on MSFT shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $465.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Scotiabank raised their price target on shares of Microsoft from $470.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Microsoft from $565.00 to $585.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 25th. Needham & Company LLC restated a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Loop Capital raised their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $550.00 to $600.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Microsoft presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $551.21.

Microsoft Trading Up 0.6%

NASDAQ MSFT traded up $2.83 on Friday, hitting $513.71. 19,103,456 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 16,594,816. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 1.36 and a current ratio of 1.37. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $483.52 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $431.52. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.82 trillion, a P/E ratio of 39.70, a P/E/G ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 1.04. Microsoft Corporation has a 52-week low of $344.79 and a 52-week high of $518.29.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.22 by $0.24. The firm had revenue of $70.07 billion during 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 business's revenue was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.94 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 21st will be paid a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.65%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 21st. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio is currently 25.66%.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 3,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $463.00, for a total value of $1,389,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 43,930 shares in the company, valued at $20,339,590. The trade was a 6.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Amy Coleman sold 13,243 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $452.01, for a total value of $5,985,968.43. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 43,100 shares of the company's stock, valued at $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. In the last three months, insiders sold 135,743 shares of company stock valued at $60,224,683. Insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

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.