Strategic Advocates LLC Sells 7,456 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Strategic Advocates LLC reduced its stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 58.8% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,219 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 7,456 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up 0.8% of Strategic Advocates LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 27th biggest position. Strategic Advocates LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $2,196,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Friedenthal Financial purchased a new stake in Microsoft during the 4th quarter valued at $45,000. Neo Ivy Capital Management bought a new position in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter valued at $58,000. PayPay Securities Corp boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 23.7% during the fourth quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 188 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $71,000 after buying an additional 36 shares during the last quarter. Cooksen Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Microsoft in the 4th quarter worth about $86,000. Finally, Kathleen S. Wright Associates Inc. raised its position in Microsoft by 160.7% in the 4th quarter. Kathleen S. Wright Associates Inc. now owns 232 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $87,000 after buying an additional 143 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In other news, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $425.68, for a total value of $10,642,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 104,949 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $44,674,690.32. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Microsoft news, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $425.68, for a total value of $10,642,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 104,949 shares in the company, valued at $44,674,690.32. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 244 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $415.53, for a total transaction of $101,389.32. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 47,011 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,534,480.83. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 25,566 shares of company stock valued at $10,877,535. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Raymond James reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $480.00 price target (up previously from $450.00) on shares of Microsoft in a report on Friday, April 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Microsoft from $440.00 to $470.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $450.00 to $515.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. DA Davidson reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $500.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a report on Friday, March 15th. Finally, Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $465.00 price objective (up previously from $455.00) on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-three have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $465.83.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Microsoft stock opened at $446.34 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a current ratio of 1.24. The company has a market capitalization of $3.32 trillion, a PE ratio of 38.64, a P/E/G ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $419.05 and a 200-day moving average price of $406.10. Microsoft Co. has a fifty-two week low of $309.45 and a fifty-two week high of $450.94.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The software giant reported $2.94 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.81 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $61.86 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $60.86 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 37.54% and a net margin of 36.43%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.45 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 11.77 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 15th will be issued a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 15th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.67%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is currently 25.97%.

Microsoft Company 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.