Butensky & Cohen Financial Security Inc. Has $5.44 Million Position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Butensky & Cohen Financial Security Inc. decreased its position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 8.2% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 12,933 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 1,150 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up 1.7% of Butensky & Cohen Financial Security Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 4th biggest position. Butensky & Cohen Financial Security Inc.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $5,441,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in MSFT. Friedenthal Financial bought a new position in shares of Microsoft during the fourth 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 purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter valued at $86,000. Finally, Authentikos Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the third quarter valued at $87,000. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 322 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $416.60, for a total value of $134,145.20. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer now owns 47,255 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,686,433. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Microsoft news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 322 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $416.60, for a total value of $134,145.20. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer now owns 47,255 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,686,433. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 23rd. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at approximately $44,674,690.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 25,566 shares of company stock valued at $10,877,535 in the last quarter. 0.03% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Microsoft Stock Performance

NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $445.70 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $419.41 and its 200 day moving average is $406.37. Microsoft Co. has a fifty-two week low of $309.45 and a fifty-two week high of $450.94. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.31 trillion, a PE ratio of 38.59, a PEG ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a current ratio of 1.24.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The software giant reported $2.94 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 analyst estimates of $60.86 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.45 EPS. Microsoft’s quarterly revenue was up 17.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 11.77 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 15th will be given a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.67%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 15th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.97%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently commented on MSFT shares. Raymond James reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $480.00 price objective (up from $450.00) on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Microsoft from $465.00 to $520.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $465.00 target price (up from $455.00) on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $500.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday, May 22nd. Finally, Macquarie raised their target price on Microsoft from $460.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 17th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $465.83.

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.