Denver Wealth Management Inc. Decreases Stock Holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Denver Wealth Management Inc. cut its stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 2.6% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,443 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 38 shares during the period. Denver Wealth Management Inc.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $645,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Rebalance LLC increased its holdings in Microsoft by 0.7% in the 2nd quarter. Rebalance LLC now owns 3,451 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $1,542,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. Innova Wealth Partners boosted its position 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 buying an additional 25 shares during the period. Arkansas Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Arkansas Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,719 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $646,000 after buying an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Partnership Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. Partnership Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,202 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $2,609,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the period. Finally, Doheny Asset Management CA boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. Doheny Asset Management CA now owns 6,397 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $2,691,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 14,398 shares of Microsoft 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 786,933 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $328,473,703.53. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 40,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $402.59, for a total value of $16,103,600.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 544,847 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $219,349,953.73. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Satya Nadella sold 14,398 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $417.41, for a total value of $6,009,869.18. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 786,933 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $328,473,703.53. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 190,629 shares of company stock worth $77,916,485. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Stock Down 0.8 %

Shares of Microsoft stock opened at $435.27 on Friday. Microsoft Co. has a twelve month low of $309.45 and a twelve month high of $468.35. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.24 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.69, a PEG ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 0.90. 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 business’s 50 day simple moving average is $420.92 and its 200-day simple moving average is $424.03.

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

Microsoft announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback plan on Monday, September 16th that allows the company to repurchase $60.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the software giant to repurchase up to 1.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be paid a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.76%. This is a positive change from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. Microsoft’s payout ratio is presently 25.97%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on MSFT. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $515.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. TD Cowen lifted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $470.00 to $495.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $520.00 to $510.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Bank of America raised their target price on Microsoft from $480.00 to $510.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $485.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $494.72.

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.