Richard P Slaughter Associates Inc Decreases Stock Position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Richard P Slaughter Associates Inc lessened its stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 21.3% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,923 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 519 shares during the quarter. Richard P Slaughter Associates Inc’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $809,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Alaska Permanent Fund Corp boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 5.7% in the 1st quarter. Alaska Permanent Fund Corp now owns 38,424 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $16,166,000 after acquiring an additional 2,076 shares during the period. Collective Family Office LLC boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 9.9% during the 1st quarter. Collective Family Office LLC now owns 7,156 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $3,011,000 after buying an additional 647 shares during the last quarter. Foster Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 0.6% during the 1st quarter. Foster Group Inc. now owns 21,864 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $9,199,000 after buying an additional 134 shares during the last quarter. Monterey Private Wealth Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 1.0% during the 1st quarter. Monterey Private Wealth Inc. now owns 13,310 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $5,600,000 after buying an additional 136 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Rise Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 226.1% during the 1st quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 5,260 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $2,213,000 after buying an additional 3,647 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Trading Up 0.9 %

NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $449.78 on Friday. 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 PEG ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 0.89. The business has a fifty day moving average of $419.96 and a 200-day moving average of $407.17. 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 announced its 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 business had revenue of $61.86 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $60.86 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.45 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 17.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 11.77 earnings per share for the current 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 paid a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 15th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.67%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is currently 25.97%.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In related news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 244 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $415.53, for a total transaction of $101,389.32. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer now owns 47,011 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,534,480.83. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In related news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 244 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $415.53, for a total value of $101,389.32. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer now owns 47,011 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,534,480.83. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the 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 owns 104,949 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $44,674,690.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 25,566 shares of company stock valued at $10,877,535 over the last 90 days. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently commented on MSFT. Truist Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $600.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Monday, June 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Microsoft from $440.00 to $470.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Evercore ISI increased their target price on Microsoft from $475.00 to $485.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Microsoft from $465.00 to $520.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $480.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-three have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $467.12.

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.