Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Position Cut by Founders Capital Management

Founders Capital Management decreased its position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 0.9% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 27,026 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 250 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for approximately 7.7% of Founders Capital Management’s portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest position. Founders Capital Management’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $11,370,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Czech National Bank increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.4% during the first quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 1,307,487 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $550,086,000 after acquiring an additional 5,253 shares during the period. Fulton Bank N.A. increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 1.3% during the first quarter. Fulton Bank N.A. now owns 118,996 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $50,064,000 after acquiring an additional 1,574 shares during the period. Signal Advisors Wealth LLC increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 50.0% during the first quarter. Signal Advisors Wealth LLC now owns 12,732 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $5,357,000 after acquiring an additional 4,243 shares during the period. Safeguard Financial LLC increased its holdings in Microsoft by 28.3% in the first quarter. Safeguard Financial LLC now owns 6,691 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $2,815,000 after buying an additional 1,476 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ellenbecker Investment Group increased its holdings in Microsoft by 4.6% in the first quarter. Ellenbecker Investment Group now owns 10,644 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $4,478,000 after buying an additional 464 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MSFT has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Macquarie increased their target price on Microsoft from $460.00 to $475.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, May 17th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Microsoft from $480.00 to $500.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $465.00 target price (up previously from $455.00) on shares of Microsoft in a report on Friday, April 26th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $465.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 1st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $500.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Friday, May 24th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Microsoft currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $467.12.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $425.68, for a total transaction of $10,642,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 104,949 shares in the company, valued at $44,674,690.32. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Microsoft news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 244 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on Monday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $415.53, for a total value of $101,389.32. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer now owns 47,011 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,534,480.83. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $425.68, for a total transaction of $10,642,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 104,949 shares in the company, valued at approximately $44,674,690.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 25,566 shares of company stock worth $10,877,535. 0.03% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Microsoft Trading Up 0.9 %

Shares of MSFT opened at $449.78 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a current ratio of 1.24 and a quick ratio of 1.23. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $419.96 and a 200-day simple moving average of $407.17. Microsoft Co. has a 1-year low of $309.45 and a 1-year high of $450.94. The stock has a market cap of $3.34 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 0.89.

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

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 15th will be given a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 15th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.67%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 25.97%.

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.