Kessler Investment Group LLC Trims Holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Kessler Investment Group LLC trimmed its position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 28.7% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 10,841 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 4,374 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises 2.8% of Kessler Investment Group LLC's holdings, making the stock its 19th largest position. Kessler Investment Group LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $4,561,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Friedenthal Financial acquired a new stake in Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth about $45,000. Neo Ivy Capital Management acquired a new stake in Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth about $58,000. Richardson Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Microsoft by 1,290.0% during the first quarter. Richardson Capital Management LLC now owns 139 shares of the software giant's stock worth $59,000 after acquiring an additional 129 shares during the period. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Microsoft by 89.0% during the third quarter. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC now owns 223 shares of the software giant's stock worth $70,000 after acquiring an additional 105 shares during the period. Finally, PayPay Securities Corp grew its holdings in Microsoft by 23.7% during the fourth quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 188 shares of the software giant's stock worth $71,000 after acquiring an additional 36 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 3,303 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on Monday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $406.12, for a total value of $1,341,414.36. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 570,826 shares of the company's stock, valued at $231,823,855.12. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other news, major shareholder Corp Microsoft sold 1,000,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $1.95, for a total value of $1,950,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 11,677,398 shares of the company's stock, valued at $22,770,926.10. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 3,303 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on Monday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $406.12, for a total value of $1,341,414.36. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 570,826 shares of the company's stock, valued at $231,823,855.12. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 1,070,258 shares of company stock valued at $30,690,456. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MSFT has been the topic of several analyst reports. UBS Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $480.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. DA Davidson reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $500.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a report on Friday, March 15th. BNP Paribas raised Microsoft from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $471.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 18th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Microsoft from $455.00 to $465.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $455.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $452.61.

Microsoft Trading Up 0.7 %

NASDAQ:MSFT traded up $2.90 on Thursday, reaching $397.84. The company's stock had a trading volume of 17,217,839 shares, compared to its average volume of 22,134,736. Microsoft Co. has a 12-month low of $303.40 and a 12-month high of $430.82. The company has a quick ratio of 1.23, a current ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17. The firm has a market cap of $2.96 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.06 and a beta of 0.89. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $413.76 and a 200 day moving average price of $389.54.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The software giant reported $2.94 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.81 by $0.13. Microsoft had a return on equity of 37.54% and a net margin of 36.43%. The company had revenue of $61.86 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $60.86 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.45 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 17.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 11.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 16th will be given a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 15th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.75%. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio is currently 25.97%.

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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