Mraz Amerine & Associates Inc. Sells 389 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Mraz Amerine & Associates Inc. decreased its position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 2.0% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 18,928 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 389 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises approximately 1.7% of Mraz Amerine & Associates Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 9th largest position. Mraz Amerine & Associates Inc.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $8,460,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 169.2% during the 2nd quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 70 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 44 shares in the last quarter. Richardson Capital Management LLC boosted its position 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 valued at $59,000 after purchasing an additional 129 shares during the period. Innealta Capital LLC purchased a new position in Microsoft in the 2nd quarter worth about $75,000. Bellevue Group AG raised its holdings in Microsoft by 47.5% during the 1st quarter. Bellevue Group AG now owns 180 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $76,000 after buying an additional 58 shares during the period. Finally, Horizon Financial Services LLC purchased a new stake in Microsoft during the first quarter valued at about $80,000. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MSFT has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Bank of America lifted their price target on Microsoft from $480.00 to $510.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective on Microsoft from $515.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Truist Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $600.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, Oppenheimer lowered shares of Microsoft from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $493.47.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 14,398 shares of the firm’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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 786,933 shares in the company, valued at approximately $328,473,703.53. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Microsoft news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 40,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the insider now owns 544,847 shares in the company, valued at approximately $219,349,953.73. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Satya Nadella sold 14,398 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 786,933 shares in the company, valued at approximately $328,473,703.53. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 190,629 shares of company stock valued at $77,916,485 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of Microsoft stock opened at $418.74 on Wednesday. Microsoft Co. has a 1-year low of $324.39 and a 1-year high of $468.35. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $418.79 and a 200-day simple moving average of $424.65. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $3.11 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.25, a PEG ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.90.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $2.95 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.90 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $64.73 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $64.38 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.96% and a return on equity of 35.95%. The business’s revenue was up 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.69 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 13.02 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be issued a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.79%. This is a positive change from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 28.74%.

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

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.