Affinity Capital Advisors LLC Sells 101 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Affinity Capital Advisors LLC reduced its stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 1.0% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 9,720 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 101 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up 0.9% of Affinity Capital Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 27th biggest position. Affinity Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $4,089,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of MSFT. Friedenthal Financial purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter worth $45,000. Neo Ivy Capital Management purchased a new position in Microsoft in the 4th quarter worth about $58,000. PayPay Securities Corp lifted its stake in Microsoft by 23.7% during the 4th quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 188 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $71,000 after acquiring an additional 36 shares during the period. Cooksen Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the 4th quarter valued at about $86,000. Finally, Kathleen S. Wright Associates Inc. grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 160.7% in the fourth quarter. Kathleen S. Wright Associates Inc. now owns 232 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $87,000 after acquiring an additional 143 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently issued reports on MSFT. 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 report on Monday, April 1st. New Street Research assumed coverage on Microsoft in a research report on Monday, June 10th. They set a “buy” rating and a $570.00 price objective for the company. Macquarie raised their target price on Microsoft from $460.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 17th. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $500.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday, May 22nd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $500.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a report on Friday, May 24th. 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 data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $467.12.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 104,949 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $44,674,690.32. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 244 shares of the business’s 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,534,480.83. 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 three months. 0.03% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $456.73 on Tuesday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $424.11 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $410.15. Microsoft Co. has a 52 week low of $309.45 and a 52 week high of $457.37. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $3.39 trillion, a P/E ratio of 39.54, a PEG ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 0.89.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The software giant reported $2.94 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $60.86 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.45 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 11.77 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 15th will be issued 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 0.66%. Microsoft’s payout ratio is presently 25.97%.

Microsoft 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.