Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Stock Holdings Cut by Forbes J M & Co. LLP

Forbes J M & Co. LLP trimmed its position in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 2.0% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 153,768 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 3,098 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for approximately 7.0% of Forbes J M & Co. LLP’s portfolio, making the stock its largest holding. Forbes J M & Co. LLP’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $64,693,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Microsoft by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. now owns 19,639 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $8,263,000 after acquiring an additional 81 shares during the period. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.5% during the first quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. now owns 404,978 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $170,382,000 after buying an additional 1,854 shares during the period. Unique Wealth LLC increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 22.2% during the first quarter. Unique Wealth LLC now owns 9,105 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $3,831,000 after buying an additional 1,655 shares during the period. Bangor Savings Bank increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 3.4% during the first quarter. Bangor Savings Bank now owns 18,761 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $7,893,000 after buying an additional 622 shares during the period. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 8.1% during the first quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 73,566 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $31,234,000 after buying an additional 5,498 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MSFT has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. KeyCorp initiated coverage on Microsoft in a report on Thursday, March 21st. They set an “overweight” rating and a $490.00 price objective for the company. UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $480.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Truist Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $600.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Monday, June 17th. Tigress Financial upped their target price on Microsoft from $475.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 13th. Finally, Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $500.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday, May 22nd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Microsoft currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $467.12.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

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

Microsoft Stock Performance

NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $452.85 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $422.18 and its 200 day moving average price is $408.83. Microsoft Co. has a 1-year low of $309.45 and a 1-year high of $456.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a current ratio of 1.24 and a quick ratio of 1.23. The firm has a market cap of $3.37 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 0.89.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The software giant reported $2.94 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.81 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $61.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $60.86 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 36.43% and a return on equity of 37.54%. The business’s revenue was up 17.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.45 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 11.77 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 15th will be paid a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.66%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 15th. Microsoft’s payout ratio is 25.97%.

Microsoft Company 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.