Townsend Asset Management Corp NC ADV Sells 606 Shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Townsend Asset Management Corp NC ADV reduced its stake in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 2.9% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 20,313 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 606 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises 2.9% of Townsend Asset Management Corp NC ADV's holdings, making the stock its 9th largest holding. Townsend Asset Management Corp NC ADV's holdings in Microsoft were worth $7,625,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in MSFT. Newton One Investments LLC increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 66.7% in the 1st quarter. Newton One Investments LLC now owns 75 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Ball & Co Wealth Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. LSV Asset Management bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at $44,000. IFS Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 50.0% in the 1st quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 150 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $57,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fairway Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at $62,000. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Microsoft news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 6,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $433.17, for a total value of $2,599,020.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 471,036 shares in the company, valued at $204,038,664.12. This trade represents a 1.26% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 3,000 shares of the firm's 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 transaction, the executive vice president owned 43,930 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $20,339,590. This represents a 6.39% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 135,743 shares of company stock worth $60,224,683 in the last ninety days. 0.03% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Microsoft Trading Up 0.6%

Shares of Microsoft stock opened at $513.71 on Friday. Microsoft Corporation has a 52-week low of $344.79 and a 52-week high of $518.29. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $483.52 and its 200 day simple moving average is $431.47. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.82 trillion, a P/E ratio of 39.70, a P/E/G ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 1.04. 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 announced its quarterly earnings data 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. Microsoft had a return on equity of 32.74% and a net margin of 35.79%. The business had revenue of $70.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $68.54 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.94 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Investors 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 0.65%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 21st. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio is currently 25.66%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently weighed in on MSFT. TD Securities lifted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $490.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Scotiabank upped their target price on Microsoft from $470.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Wall Street Zen lowered Microsoft from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, June 30th. DA Davidson upped their target price on Microsoft from $500.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their target price on Microsoft from $475.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $551.21.

Microsoft Profile

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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