Steel Grove Capital Advisors LLC Reduces Holdings in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Steel Grove Capital Advisors LLC decreased its position in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 14.6% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 9,844 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 1,682 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for about 0.6% of Steel Grove Capital Advisors LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 18th largest position. Steel Grove Capital Advisors LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $3,695,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MSFT. Newton One Investments LLC grew its holdings in Microsoft by 66.7% during the 1st quarter. Newton One Investments LLC now owns 75 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Ball & Co Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Microsoft during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $31,000. LSV Asset Management purchased a new stake in Microsoft during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $44,000. IFS Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Microsoft by 50.0% during the 1st quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 150 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $57,000 after buying an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fairway Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at $62,000. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently weighed in on MSFT. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Microsoft from $494.00 to $550.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, July 21st. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $605.00 to $613.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $581.00 price objective (up previously from $512.00) on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $465.00 to $475.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Microsoft currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $555.86.

Microsoft Stock Down 0.2%

Shares of MSFT stock traded down $1.21 on Monday, hitting $512.50. The stock had a trading volume of 14,290,681 shares, compared to its average volume of 15,824,139. The company has a quick ratio of 1.36, a current ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $484.59 and a 200 day moving average price of $432.22. The company has a market cap of $3.81 trillion, a PE ratio of 39.61, a P/E/G ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 1.04. Microsoft Corporation has a one year low of $344.79 and a one year high of $518.29.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.22 by $0.24. The firm had revenue of $70.07 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $68.54 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 32.74% and a net margin of 35.79%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.94 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 21st. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.65%. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio is presently 25.66%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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 shares were 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 in the company, valued at approximately $61,208,127.76. The trade was a 13.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Amy Coleman sold 13,243 shares of the business'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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 43,100 shares of the company's stock, valued at $19,481,631. This represents a 23.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 135,743 shares of company stock valued at $60,224,683 in the last three months. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.