Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Sold by Emerald Advisers LLC

Emerald Advisers LLC reduced its stake in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 1.5% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 18,200 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 278 shares during the period. Emerald Advisers LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $8,134,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Caprock Group LLC boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 39.2% in the second quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 224,949 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $100,551,000 after purchasing an additional 63,344 shares during the period. Lynch & Associates IN grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 3.0% during the 2nd quarter. Lynch & Associates IN now owns 107,108 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $47,872,000 after buying an additional 3,158 shares during the last quarter. Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in Microsoft by 2.3% during the second quarter. Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. now owns 13,082 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $5,847,000 after acquiring an additional 295 shares during the period. Certuity LLC lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 22.1% in the second quarter. Certuity LLC now owns 55,282 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $24,708,000 after acquiring an additional 10,001 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Counterweight Ventures LLC boosted its stake in Microsoft by 1.7% in the second quarter. Counterweight Ventures LLC now owns 11,109 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $4,965,000 after acquiring an additional 188 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 78,353 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $408.63, for a total value of $32,017,386.39. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 864,327 shares in the company, valued at $353,189,942.01. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Microsoft news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 78,353 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $408.63, for a total value of $32,017,386.39. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 864,327 shares in the company, valued at $353,189,942.01. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 17,378 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $411.85, for a total value of $7,157,129.30. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 150,161 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $61,843,807.85. 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 three months, insiders have sold 190,629 shares of company stock valued at $77,916,485. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MSFT has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Bank of America boosted their price objective on Microsoft from $480.00 to $510.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Oppenheimer lowered shares of Microsoft from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Piper Sandler cut their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $485.00 to $470.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Truist Financial restated a “buy” rating and issued a $600.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on Microsoft from $465.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and twenty-eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Microsoft has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $495.58.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Microsoft stock opened at $424.60 on Thursday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $420.33 and its 200-day simple moving average is $424.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 1.27 and a quick ratio of 1.27. Microsoft Co. has a fifty-two week low of $326.94 and a fifty-two week 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.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $2.95 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.90 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $64.73 billion for 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%. Microsoft’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.69 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 13.02 EPS for the current year.

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

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.83 per share. This is a boost from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.78%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 28.74%.

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.