Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Stock Holdings Lowered by Willner & Heller LLC

Willner & Heller LLC lowered its holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 1.0% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 7,416 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 73 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for about 3.2% of Willner & Heller LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 4th biggest holding. Willner & Heller LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $3,315,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

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

Microsoft Price Performance

MSFT stock opened at $430.81 on Thursday. Microsoft Co. has a 12 month low of $309.45 and a 12 month high of $468.35. The company has a current ratio of 1.27, a quick 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. The stock has a market cap of $3.20 trillion, a PE ratio of 37.30, a P/E/G ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 0.90.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $2.95 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 analysts’ expectations of $64.38 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.69 EPS. The firm’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 business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.83 per share. This is a positive change from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.77%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.97%.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In related news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $411.04, for a total transaction of $1,027,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer now owns 50,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,552,000. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 50,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,552,000. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 40,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $402.59, for a total transaction of $16,103,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 544,847 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $219,349,953.73. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 190,629 shares of company stock worth $77,916,485 in the last 90 days. 0.03% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on MSFT. UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $520.00 to $510.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. TD Cowen raised their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $470.00 to $495.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and set a $485.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. New Street Research began coverage on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Monday, June 10th. They set a “buy” rating and a $570.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Tigress Financial raised their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 13th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $494.72.

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.