KP Management LLC Sells 2,000 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

KP Management LLC lowered its holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 6.3% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 29,500 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 2,000 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises approximately 4.6% of KP Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest holding. KP Management LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $13,185,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Verity & Verity LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 2.6% in the second quarter. Verity & Verity LLC now owns 64,180 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $28,685,000 after purchasing an additional 1,635 shares in the last quarter. Summit Wealth Partners LLC grew its holdings in Microsoft by 14.7% during the second quarter. Summit Wealth Partners LLC now owns 6,454 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $2,885,000 after buying an additional 829 shares in the last quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. raised its position in Microsoft by 6.2% in the 2nd quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 24,328 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $10,873,000 after buying an additional 1,431 shares during the last quarter. SS&H Financial Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in Microsoft by 3.5% during the 2nd quarter. SS&H Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 41,022 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $18,335,000 after acquiring an additional 1,370 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cannon Financial Strategists Inc. purchased a new position in Microsoft during the 2nd quarter worth $955,000. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Trading Down 2.8 %

Microsoft stock opened at $415.00 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $3.09 trillion, a P/E ratio of 34.24, a PEG ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 0.91. Microsoft Co. has a fifty-two week low of $362.90 and a fifty-two week high of $468.35. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $422.34 and its 200-day moving average price is $425.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a current ratio of 1.30.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.10 by $0.20. Microsoft had a return on equity of 34.56% and a net margin of 35.61%. The business had revenue of $65.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $64.57 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.99 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 12.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Investors 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.80%. Microsoft’s payout ratio is presently 27.39%.

Microsoft announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Monday, September 16th that authorizes the company to buyback $60.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the software giant to purchase up to 1.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, 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. This represents a 1.80 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Amy Hood sold 38,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $410.55, for a total transaction of $15,600,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 496,369 shares in the company, valued at approximately $203,784,292.95. The trade was a 7.11 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 197,829 shares of company stock valued at $80,966,837 over the last quarter. 0.03% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently commented on MSFT shares. UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of Microsoft from $510.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $470.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their target price on Microsoft from $515.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 10th. KeyCorp lifted their price target on Microsoft from $490.00 to $505.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company restated a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Friday, October 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and twenty-six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $503.03.

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.