Golden State Equity Partners lowered its position in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 1.8% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 38,329 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 708 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up approximately 2.8% of Golden State Equity Partners' holdings, making the stock its 3rd biggest holding. Golden State Equity Partners' holdings in Microsoft were worth $14,388,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.
Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Fosun International Ltd increased its holdings in 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 buying an additional 23 shares during the last quarter. Retirement Financial Solutions LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Retirement Financial Solutions LLC now owns 1,050 shares of the software giant's stock worth $443,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. Kuhn & Co Investment Counsel increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Kuhn & Co Investment Counsel now owns 3,286 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $1,385,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the period. Alliance Wealth Management Group increased its position in Microsoft by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Alliance Wealth Management Group now owns 5,617 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $2,368,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the period. Finally, Guidance Point Advisors LLC increased its position in Microsoft by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Guidance Point Advisors LLC now owns 4,294 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $1,811,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company's stock.
Insiders Place Their Bets
In other news, 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 value of $9,756,055.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 134,888 shares in the company, valued at $61,208,127.76. This trade represents a 13.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 3,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $463.00, for a total value of $1,389,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 43,930 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,339,590. This trade represents a 6.39% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 54,743 shares of company stock valued at $24,921,913 in the last three months. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.
Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades
A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their target price on Microsoft from $540.00 to $637.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Wall Street Zen upgraded Microsoft from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday. Raymond James Financial increased their target price on Microsoft from $490.00 to $570.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, July 28th. Benchmark restated a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Mizuho raised their price objective on Microsoft from $540.00 to $625.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Microsoft has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $609.86.
Get Our Latest Stock Analysis on MSFT
Microsoft Stock Performance
Shares of MSFT stock traded down $2.81 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $524.94. The stock had a trading volume of 21,298,640 shares, compared to its average volume of 22,431,307. The business's fifty day moving average is $492.99 and its 200-day moving average is $436.40. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The firm has a market cap of $3.90 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.49, a PEG ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 1.06. Microsoft Corporation has a 1-year low of $344.79 and a 1-year high of $555.45.
Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $3.65 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.35 by $0.30. The firm had revenue of $76.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $73.79 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 32.44% and a net margin of 36.15%. Microsoft's revenue for the quarter was up 18.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.95 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current year.
Microsoft Dividend Announcement
The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 21st will be issued a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 21st. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 24.34%.
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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