Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Sold by Graham Capital Wealth Management LLC

Graham Capital Wealth Management LLC reduced its stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 33.0% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,711 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 841 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up approximately 1.0% of Graham Capital Wealth Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 19th largest position. Graham Capital Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $765,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of MSFT. Ted Buchan & Co acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $2,566,000. Advisory Alpha LLC grew its position in Microsoft by 16.9% in the second quarter. Advisory Alpha LLC now owns 26,048 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $11,643,000 after acquiring an additional 3,773 shares during the period. IMS Capital Management increased its stake in Microsoft by 1.1% during the second quarter. IMS Capital Management now owns 22,222 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $9,440,000 after acquiring an additional 241 shares during the last quarter. Regency Capital Management Inc. DE raised its position in Microsoft by 1.4% in the second quarter. Regency Capital Management Inc. DE now owns 15,282 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $6,830,000 after purchasing an additional 205 shares during the period. Finally, Pathway Financial Advisers LLC lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 0.8% in the 2nd quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 9,269 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $4,097,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $497.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $506.00 to $548.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $500.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Sanford C. Bernstein decreased their price target on Microsoft from $501.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Finally, KeyCorp lifted their price objective on Microsoft from $490.00 to $505.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and twenty-six have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $503.03.

Microsoft Stock Down 2.8 %

MSFT opened at $415.00 on Friday. Microsoft Co. has a one year low of $362.90 and a one year high of $468.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a current ratio of 1.30. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.09 trillion, a P/E ratio of 34.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 0.91. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $422.08 and its 200-day simple moving average is $425.44.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 company had revenue of $65.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $64.57 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 34.56% and a net margin of 35.61%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.99 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 12.94 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be given a dividend of $0.83 per share. This is an increase from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.80%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 27.39%.

Microsoft announced that its board has approved a stock buyback program on Monday, September 16th that permits the company to repurchase $60.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the software giant to buy up to 1.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In related news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 40,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $402.59, for a total value of $16,103,600.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 544,847 shares in the company, valued at $219,349,953.73. The trade was a 6.84 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Christopher David Young sold 7,200 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $423.66, for a total value of $3,050,352.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 103,366 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $43,792,039.56. The trade was a 6.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 197,829 shares of company stock worth $80,966,837. 0.03% of the stock is owned by company 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.