Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Position Boosted by Cherrydale Wealth Management LLC

Cherrydale Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 18.5% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 5,656 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 884 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises about 1.1% of Cherrydale Wealth Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 12th biggest holding. Cherrydale Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $2,380,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Microsoft by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 664,908,939 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $250,032,357,000 after acquiring an additional 15,701,937 shares during the period. FMR LLC raised its stake in Microsoft by 2.7% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 215,874,152 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $68,162,263,000 after acquiring an additional 5,762,902 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $35,920,047,000. Barclays PLC increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 9.3% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 28,987,007 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $9,152,647,000 after purchasing an additional 2,456,190 shares during the period. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $9,625,201,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Stock Down 1.3 %

Microsoft stock opened at $446.95 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.32 trillion, a P/E ratio of 38.70, a P/E/G ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 0.89. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $424.11 and its 200-day simple moving average is $409.66. The company has a current ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17. Microsoft Co. has a 1-year low of $309.45 and a 1-year high of $456.17.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.81 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $61.86 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $60.86 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 36.43% and a return on equity of 37.54%. Microsoft’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.45 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 11.77 earnings per share 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 issued a $0.75 dividend. 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 (DPR) is presently 25.97%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have commented on MSFT. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Microsoft from $440.00 to $470.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Raymond James reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $480.00 price objective (up from $450.00) on shares of Microsoft in a report on Friday, April 26th. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $465.00 price objective (up from $455.00) on shares of Microsoft in a report on Friday, April 26th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $480.00 to $500.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Finally, Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $495.00 to $520.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, June 21st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $467.12.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 23rd. The stock was 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. Insiders have sold 25,566 shares of company stock worth $10,877,535 in the last quarter. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.