Seaview Investment Managers LLC Sells 1,671 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Seaview Investment Managers LLC cut its holdings in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 6.9% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 22,414 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 1,671 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for 3.0% of Seaview Investment Managers LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 7th largest position. Seaview Investment Managers LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $10,018,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of MSFT. Security Financial Services INC. lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 2.4% in the first quarter. Security Financial Services INC. now owns 5,475 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $2,304,000 after purchasing an additional 128 shares during the period. Royal Fund Management LLC lifted its position in Microsoft by 0.7% during the first quarter. Royal Fund Management LLC now owns 42,898 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $18,085,000 after buying an additional 308 shares in the last quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC lifted its position in Microsoft by 5.8% during the first quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 164,408 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $69,170,000 after buying an additional 9,074 shares in the last quarter. High Net Worth Advisory Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 9.8% during the first quarter. High Net Worth Advisory Group LLC now owns 13,012 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $5,475,000 after purchasing an additional 1,159 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cherrydale Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 18.5% during the first quarter. Cherrydale Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,656 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $2,380,000 after purchasing an additional 884 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. DA Davidson downgraded shares of Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $475.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. Piper Sandler decreased their target price on Microsoft from $485.00 to $470.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Argus upped their target price on Microsoft from $475.00 to $526.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. TD Cowen increased their price objective on Microsoft from $470.00 to $495.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein dropped their target price on Microsoft from $501.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. One 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.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $502.97.

Insider Activity

In other news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $411.04, for a total transaction of $1,027,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 50,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,552,000. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other Microsoft news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $411.04, for a total value of $1,027,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 50,000 shares in the company, valued at $20,552,000. This trade 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 this link. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 40,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $402.59, for a total transaction of $16,103,600.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 544,847 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $219,349,953.73. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 190,629 shares of company stock worth $77,916,485 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ MSFT opened at $428.15 on Friday. Microsoft Co. has a fifty-two week low of $326.94 and a fifty-two week high of $468.35. The stock has a market cap of $3.18 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.07, a PEG ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a current ratio of 1.27. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $420.59 and its 200 day simple moving average is $424.58.

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

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The company 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. This is a positive change from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.78%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. Microsoft’s payout ratio is 28.74%.

Microsoft declared that its Board of Directors has authorized 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 often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

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.