Cape ANN Savings Bank Sells 495 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Cape ANN Savings Bank reduced its holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 2.7% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 17,831 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 495 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for about 4.9% of Cape ANN Savings Bank’s portfolio, making the stock its 5th largest holding. Cape ANN Savings Bank’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $7,970,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Eagle Wealth Strategies LLC acquired a new stake in Microsoft in the 4th quarter worth about $2,025,000. Bridgewealth Advisory Group LLC increased its position in Microsoft by 38.8% during the 4th quarter. Bridgewealth Advisory Group LLC now owns 2,986 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,123,000 after purchasing an additional 835 shares in the last quarter. Capital Investment Counsel Inc grew its holdings in Microsoft by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Capital Investment Counsel Inc now owns 52,528 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $19,753,000 after acquiring an additional 209 shares during the last quarter. Flaharty Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Microsoft by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. Flaharty Asset Management LLC now owns 9,681 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $3,640,000 after acquiring an additional 267 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mather Group LLC. boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 85,161 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $32,024,000 after purchasing an additional 2,594 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Microsoft Stock Performance

NASDAQ MSFT opened at $428.02 on Friday. Microsoft Co. has a fifty-two week low of $309.45 and a fifty-two week high of $468.35. The stock has a market cap of $3.18 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 0.90. The business has a fifty day moving average of $419.51 and a 200-day moving average of $424.99. The company has a quick ratio of 1.27, a current ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16.

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

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be given a $0.83 dividend. This is an increase from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.78%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is presently 28.74%.

Microsoft declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase plan on Monday, September 16th that permits the company to buyback $60.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the software giant to purchase up to 1.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on MSFT shares. Tigress Financial upped their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 13th. Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $480.00 to $510.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of Microsoft from $520.00 to $510.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and set a $485.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on shares of Microsoft from $465.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 12th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $493.94.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In related news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 14,398 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $417.41, for a total value of $6,009,869.18. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 786,933 shares in the company, valued at $328,473,703.53. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Microsoft news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 14,398 shares of the company’s 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 in the company, valued at $328,473,703.53. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of the company’s 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 transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 50,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,552,000. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 190,629 shares of company stock valued at $77,916,485 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Company 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.