Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Stock Holdings Cut by Davis R M Inc.

Davis R M Inc. lessened its holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 0.7% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 412,541 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 2,831 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up about 3.6% of Davis R M Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest position. Davis R M Inc.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $173,564,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Morris Financial Concepts Inc. raised its position in Microsoft by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Morris Financial Concepts Inc. now owns 2,663 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,001,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Innova Wealth Partners increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Innova Wealth Partners now owns 4,239 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $1,594,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Arkansas Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Arkansas Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,719 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $646,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the period. Partnership Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 0.4% during the first quarter. Partnership Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,202 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $2,609,000 after buying an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Johnson Bixby & Associates LLC grew its position in Microsoft by 0.4% during the first quarter. Johnson Bixby & Associates LLC now owns 6,481 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $2,727,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently commented on MSFT. Truist Financial reissued a “buy” rating and set a $600.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Monday, June 17th. TD Cowen raised their price target on Microsoft from $470.00 to $495.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on Microsoft from $465.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 12th. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and set a $485.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $550.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-two have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Microsoft currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $494.72.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Microsoft news, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $425.68, for a total value of $10,642,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 104,949 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $44,674,690.32. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Microsoft news, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $425.68, for a total value of $10,642,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 104,949 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $44,674,690.32. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 244 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $415.53, for a total transaction of $101,389.32. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 47,011 shares in the company, valued at $19,534,480.83. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 25,566 shares of company stock valued at $10,877,535. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of Microsoft stock opened at $414.01 on Wednesday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $437.04 and its 200 day moving average price is $422.15. Microsoft Co. has a twelve month low of $309.45 and a twelve month high of $468.35. The company has a current ratio of 1.27, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.08 trillion, a P/E ratio of 35.85, a PEG ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.90.

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

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 15th will be paid a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.72%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 15th. 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.