Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Sold by Hudson Edge Investment Partners Inc.

Hudson Edge Investment Partners Inc. lowered its stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 58.2% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 507 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 705 shares during the period. Hudson Edge Investment Partners Inc.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $226,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. New Harbor Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 55.9% during the 2nd quarter. New Harbor Financial Group LLC now owns 1,255 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $561,000 after buying an additional 450 shares during the last quarter. True Link Financial Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 296.7% in the 1st quarter. True Link Financial Advisors LLC now owns 3,027 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $1,274,000 after acquiring an additional 2,264 shares during the last quarter. AMG National Trust Bank raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 19.0% during the 2nd quarter. AMG National Trust Bank now owns 81,502 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $36,427,000 after acquiring an additional 12,994 shares in the last quarter. Spinnaker Investment Group LLC lifted its stake in Microsoft by 2.7% during the first quarter. Spinnaker Investment Group LLC now owns 12,521 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $5,268,000 after purchasing an additional 326 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Leeward Financial Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 15.8% in the first quarter. Leeward Financial Partners LLC now owns 35,610 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $14,982,000 after purchasing an additional 4,861 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have weighed in on the stock. Mizuho raised their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $450.00 to $480.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. Wedbush reissued an “underperform” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday, October 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on Microsoft from $515.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Bank of America boosted their target price on Microsoft from $480.00 to $510.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, Citigroup dropped their price target on Microsoft from $500.00 to $497.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and twenty-eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $495.58.

Microsoft Price Performance

Microsoft stock opened at $424.60 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a current ratio of 1.27. Microsoft Co. has a one year low of $326.94 and a one year high of $468.35. The company has a market cap of $3.16 trillion, a P/E ratio of 36.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.90. The business has a fifty day moving average of $420.33 and a two-hundred day moving average of $424.56.

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

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Investors 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 represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.78%. This is a positive change from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 28.74%.

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

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In related news, CFO Amy Hood sold 38,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $410.55, for a total transaction of $15,600,900.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 496,369 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $203,784,292.95. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other Microsoft news, CFO Amy Hood sold 38,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $410.55, for a total transaction of $15,600,900.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 496,369 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $203,784,292.95. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 40,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $402.59, for a total value of $16,103,600.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 544,847 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $219,349,953.73. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 190,629 shares of company stock worth $77,916,485 over the last ninety days. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.