Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Sold by Benson Investment Management Company Inc.

Benson Investment Management Company Inc. decreased its position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 9.9% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 27,902 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 3,070 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for approximately 5.0% of Benson Investment Management Company Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its biggest holding. Benson Investment Management Company Inc.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $11,739,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in MSFT. Starfox Financial Services LLC bought a new stake in Microsoft during the 3rd quarter worth about $183,000. Sonata Capital Group Inc. grew its holdings in Microsoft by 11.3% during the 3rd quarter. Sonata Capital Group Inc. now owns 30,258 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $9,554,000 after acquiring an additional 3,067 shares during the last quarter. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. grew its holdings in Microsoft by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. now owns 13,785 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $4,353,000 after acquiring an additional 306 shares during the last quarter. Must Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in Microsoft by 30.0% during the 3rd quarter. Must Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,191 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $996,000 after acquiring an additional 737 shares during the last quarter. Finally, IvyRock Asset Management HK Ltd grew its holdings in Microsoft by 38.0% during the 3rd quarter. IvyRock Asset Management HK Ltd now owns 1,090 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $344,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Microsoft news, 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 directly owns 104,949 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $44,674,690.32. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 322 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on Friday, May 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $416.60, for a total transaction of $134,145.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer now owns 47,255 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,686,433. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 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 value of $10,642,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly 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 a total of 25,566 shares of company stock valued at $10,877,535 over the last ninety days. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Microsoft Price Performance

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

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released 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 net margin of 36.43% and a return on equity of 37.54%. The business had revenue of $61.86 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $60.86 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.45 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 17.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 11.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The business 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 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 25.97%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on MSFT shares. The Goldman Sachs Group raised 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. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Microsoft from $480.00 to $500.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. New Street Research started coverage on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Monday, June 10th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $570.00 target price on the stock. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $500.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday, May 22nd. Finally, Tigress Financial raised their target price on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 13th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $467.12.

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.