Essex Private Wealth Management LLC Sells 23 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Essex Private Wealth Management LLC lowered its stake in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 1.8% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,261 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 23 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for about 1.4% of Essex Private Wealth Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 17th largest position. Essex Private Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $564,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of MSFT. Richardson Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Microsoft by 1,290.0% during the first 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 last quarter. Neo Ivy Capital Management purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the 4th quarter valued at about $58,000. Bellevue Group AG lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 47.5% in the 1st quarter. Bellevue Group AG now owns 180 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $76,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. Horizon Financial Services LLC bought a new stake in Microsoft during the first quarter worth approximately $80,000. Finally, Cooksen Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Microsoft during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $86,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 10th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at approximately $20,552,000. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 14,398 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 23rd. The shares were 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 directly owns 786,933 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $328,473,703.53. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $411.04, for a total value of $1,027,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer now owns 50,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,552,000. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 190,629 shares of company stock worth $77,916,485. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MSFT has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. New Street Research started coverage on Microsoft in a report on Monday, June 10th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $570.00 target price for the company. Tigress Financial boosted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 13th. Bank of America lifted their price target 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. Argus increased their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $526.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on Microsoft from $465.00 to $500.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 12th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Microsoft has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $494.72.

Microsoft Trading Down 0.8 %

MSFT opened at $435.27 on Friday. Microsoft Co. has a 12 month low of $309.45 and a 12 month high of $468.35. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $420.92 and a 200-day moving average price of $424.03. The firm has a market cap 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.

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

Microsoft declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase plan on Monday, September 16th that permits the company to repurchase $60.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the software giant to repurchase up to 1.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually 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. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be given 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.76%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is presently 25.97%.

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.