Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT Sells 8,770 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT lessened its stake in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 1.1% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 761,722 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 8,770 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for about 6.1% of Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT’s portfolio, making the stock its largest position. Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $340,452,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of MSFT. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc raised its holdings in Microsoft by 169.2% during the second quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 70 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. Richardson Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Microsoft by 1,290.0% during the first quarter. Richardson Capital Management LLC now owns 139 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $59,000 after buying an additional 129 shares during the last quarter. Innealta Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the 2nd quarter worth $75,000. Bellevue Group AG grew its stake in shares of 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. Finally, Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 36.8% in the 1st quarter. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC now owns 305 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $128,000 after acquiring an additional 82 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Trading Up 1.0 %

Shares of MSFT opened at $410.37 on Monday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $420.69 and its 200 day simple moving average is $424.71. The company has a market capitalization of $3.05 trillion, a P/E ratio of 33.86, a P/E/G ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.30 and a quick ratio of 1.27. Microsoft Co. has a 1-year low of $344.77 and a 1-year high of $468.35.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.10 by $0.20. The business had revenue of $65.59 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $64.57 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.61% and a return on equity of 34.56%. Microsoft’s quarterly revenue was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.99 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 12.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase program on Monday, September 16th that permits the company to repurchase $60.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the software giant to reacquire up to 1.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are typically a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. This is an increase from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.81%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 27.39%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Microsoft news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 50,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,552,000. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Microsoft news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 50,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,552,000. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 786,933 shares in the company, valued at $328,473,703.53. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 190,629 shares of company stock valued at $77,916,485. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently issued reports on MSFT shares. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Microsoft from $480.00 to $510.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. DA Davidson lowered shares of Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $475.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $495.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Citigroup reduced their target price on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $497.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Wedbush restated an “underperform” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday, October 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and twenty-six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Microsoft presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $503.03.

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.