Greenspring Advisors LLC Decreases Stock Holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Greenspring Advisors LLC trimmed its position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 11.4% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,177 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 540 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for approximately 0.4% of Greenspring Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 15th biggest holding. Greenspring Advisors LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $1,867,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in MSFT. Neo Ivy Capital Management purchased a new position in Microsoft during the 4th quarter valued at $58,000. Richardson Capital Management LLC increased its position in Microsoft by 1,290.0% during the 1st quarter. Richardson Capital Management LLC now owns 139 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $59,000 after purchasing an additional 129 shares during the period. Bellevue Group AG increased its position in Microsoft by 47.5% during the 1st quarter. Bellevue Group AG now owns 180 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $76,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the period. Horizon Financial Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the 1st quarter valued at $80,000. Finally, Cooksen Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the 4th quarter valued at $86,000. 71.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently commented on MSFT. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and set a $506.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Tuesday. Mizuho boosted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $450.00 to $480.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and set a $485.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $465.00 to $500.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 12th. Finally, Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $480.00 to $510.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $494.72.

Microsoft Price Performance

NASDAQ MSFT opened at $430.81 on Thursday. Microsoft Co. has a 52 week low of $309.45 and a 52 week high of $468.35. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.20 trillion, a P/E ratio of 37.30, a PEG ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a quick ratio of 1.27, a current ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $421.60 and a 200-day moving average price of $423.78.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $2.95 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.90 by $0.05. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.96% and a return on equity of 35.95%. The firm had revenue of $64.73 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $64.38 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.69 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 13.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be given a dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.77%. This is a positive change from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is presently 25.97%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $411.04, for a total value of $1,027,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 50,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,552,000. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $411.04, for a total value of $1,027,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 50,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,552,000. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Satya Nadella sold 14,398 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $417.41, for a total transaction of $6,009,869.18. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 786,933 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $328,473,703.53. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 190,629 shares of company stock valued at $77,916,485 in the last quarter. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.