CGN Advisors LLC Raises Holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

CGN Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 1.9% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 24,168 shares of the software giant’s stock after acquiring an additional 452 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises approximately 1.3% of CGN Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 20th largest holding. CGN Advisors LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $10,168,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Morris Financial Concepts Inc. increased its stake in Microsoft by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Morris Financial Concepts Inc. now owns 2,663 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,001,000 after buying an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Innova Wealth Partners boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Innova Wealth Partners now owns 4,239 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,594,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Arkansas Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in Microsoft by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Arkansas Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,719 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $646,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Partnership Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. Partnership Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,202 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $2,609,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sicart Associates LLC boosted its stake in Microsoft by 2.9% during the 4th quarter. Sicart Associates LLC now owns 926 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $348,000 after purchasing an additional 26 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of MSFT opened at $446.95 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $3.32 trillion, a P/E ratio of 38.70, a PEG ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 0.89. Microsoft Co. has a fifty-two week low of $309.45 and a fifty-two week high of $456.17. The company has a quick ratio of 1.23, a current ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $424.11 and its 200 day moving average price is $409.90.

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

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 15th will be given a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.67%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 15th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is presently 25.97%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently commented on MSFT. Evercore ISI increased their target price on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $485.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of Microsoft from $465.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 1st. Oppenheimer upped their price target on Microsoft from $450.00 to $500.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, June 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Microsoft from $440.00 to $470.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Microsoft from $465.00 to $520.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $467.12.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 244 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer now owns 47,011 shares in the company, valued at $19,534,480.83. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Microsoft news, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the firm’s 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 in the company, valued at $44,674,690.32. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 244 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief marketing officer now owns 47,011 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,534,480.83. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 25,566 shares of company stock worth $10,877,535. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

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.