Exeter Financial LLC Has $9.17 Million Stock Holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Exeter Financial LLC reduced its stake in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 5.7% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 21,941 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 1,338 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up 4.2% of Exeter Financial LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 4th biggest position. Exeter Financial LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $9,169,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Friedenthal Financial purchased a new position in Microsoft in the 4th quarter worth $45,000. Neo Ivy Capital Management purchased a new position in Microsoft in the 4th quarter worth $58,000. PayPay Securities Corp raised its position in Microsoft by 23.7% in the 4th quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 188 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $71,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares during the period. Cooksen Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Microsoft in the 4th quarter worth $86,000. Finally, Kathleen S. Wright Associates Inc. raised its position in Microsoft by 160.7% in the 4th quarter. Kathleen S. Wright Associates Inc. now owns 232 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $87,000 after purchasing an additional 143 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Microsoft Stock Up 0.3 %

MSFT opened at $460.77 on Friday. 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 has a 50 day moving average price of $427.29 and a 200-day moving average price of $411.76. Microsoft Co. has a twelve month low of $309.45 and a twelve month high of $461.02. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.42 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.89, a PEG ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 0.89.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 firm had revenue of $61.86 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $60.86 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.45 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 17.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 11.77 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 15th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.65%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is currently 25.97%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $465.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 1st. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $480.00 to $500.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $500.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday, May 24th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $495.00 to $520.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, June 21st. Finally, Raymond James restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $480.00 price objective (up previously from $450.00) on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-three have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $467.12.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 104,949 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $44,674,690.32. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other Microsoft news, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 104,949 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $44,674,690.32. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 322 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $416.60, for a total transaction of $134,145.20. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 47,255 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,686,433. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 25,566 shares of company stock valued at $10,877,535. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

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.