Saybrook Capital NC Buys 968 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Saybrook Capital NC lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 72.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,311 shares of the software giant's stock after buying an additional 968 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises approximately 0.3% of Saybrook Capital NC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 28th biggest position. Saybrook Capital NC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $974,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. SLT Holdings LLC acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth $3,972,000. Sound View Wealth Advisors Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 3.8% during the fourth quarter. Sound View Wealth Advisors Group LLC now owns 90,318 shares of the software giant's stock worth $38,069,000 after buying an additional 3,337 shares in the last quarter. Enterprise Financial Services Corp grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 4.9% in the fourth quarter. Enterprise Financial Services Corp now owns 26,284 shares of the software giant's stock worth $11,079,000 after purchasing an additional 1,234 shares during the last quarter. Sowell Financial Services LLC grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 11.0% in the fourth quarter. Sowell Financial Services LLC now owns 156,152 shares of the software giant's stock worth $65,818,000 after purchasing an additional 15,466 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dundas Partners LLP grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 3.4% in the fourth quarter. Dundas Partners LLP now owns 186,468 shares of the software giant's stock worth $78,596,000 after purchasing an additional 6,107 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other Microsoft news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 75,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $436.05, for a total transaction of $32,703,750.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 476,999 shares of the company's stock, valued at $207,995,413.95. This trade represents a 13.59% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Amy Coleman sold 13,243 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 now directly owns 43,100 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,481,631. This represents a 23.50% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 94,243 shares of company stock worth $41,288,738 over the last 90 days. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Microsoft Stock Up 1.0%

MSFT stock traded up $4.60 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $458.87. 21,313,890 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 21,562,487. The company has a quick ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $396.84 and its 200 day moving average price is $412.71. The stock has a market cap of $3.41 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.95, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.99. Microsoft Co. has a fifty-two week low of $344.79 and a fifty-two week high of $468.35.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.22 by $0.24. Microsoft had a return on equity of 33.36% and a net margin of 35.43%. The company had revenue of $70.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $68.54 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.94 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be issued a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.72%. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio is presently 25.66%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. KeyCorp reissued a "sector weight" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Westpark Capital reissued a "hold" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Bank of America reduced their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $510.00 to $480.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $465.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $510.30.

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.