Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Sold by Pennsylvania Capital Management Inc. ADV

Key Points

• Pennsylvania Capital Management Inc. ADV reduced its stake in Microsoft Corporation by 1.0%, now holding 87,460 shares valued at approximately $32.8 million.
• Analysts have recently raised their price targets for Microsoft, with BMO Capital Markets setting a new target of $650.00 and an "outperform" rating.
• Insider selling is notable, with EVP Kathleen T. Hogan and EVP Amy Coleman each reducing their holdings significantly, which could indicate a lack of confidence in the company's immediate outlook.

Pennsylvania Capital Management Inc. ADV lessened its stake in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 1.0% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 87,460 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 842 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises approximately 12.1% of Pennsylvania Capital Management Inc. ADV's investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest holding. Pennsylvania Capital Management Inc. ADV's holdings in Microsoft were worth $32,832,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth $44,343,058,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 40,290.4% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 46,695,303 shares of the software giant's stock worth $17,528,950,000 after purchasing an additional 46,579,693 shares in the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 34,643.3% during the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 16,837,278 shares of the software giant's stock worth $7,096,913,000 after purchasing an additional 16,788,816 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 16.1% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 83,787,746 shares of the software giant's stock worth $35,316,535,000 after purchasing an additional 11,600,470 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 684,071,705 shares of the software giant's stock worth $288,336,224,000 after purchasing an additional 10,431,988 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 3,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the executive vice president owned 43,930 shares in the company, valued at $20,339,590. This represents a 6.39% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Amy Coleman sold 13,243 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $452.01, for a total transaction of $5,985,968.43. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 43,100 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $19,481,631. This trade represents a 23.50% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 60,743 shares of company stock valued at $27,520,933. Insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of Microsoft stock traded down $9.39 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $524.11. The stock had a trading volume of 28,948,527 shares, compared to its average volume of 17,331,950. The stock's 50 day moving average is $489.94 and its 200 day moving average is $434.88. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.90 trillion, a PE ratio of 38.42, a PEG ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 1.06. Microsoft Corporation has a twelve month low of $344.79 and a twelve month high of $555.45. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $3.65 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.35 by $0.30. The business had revenue of $76.44 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $73.79 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 36.15% and a return on equity of 32.44%. The company's revenue was up 18.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.95 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 21st will be given a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date 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 is 24.34%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MSFT has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Scotiabank upped their price target on Microsoft from $500.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their price target on Microsoft from $540.00 to $637.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday. KeyCorp raised Microsoft from a "sector weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $630.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $605.00 to $613.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Finally, TD Securities boosted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $490.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $609.86.

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.