Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Sold by Mather Group LLC.

Mather Group LLC. decreased its position in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 6.0% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 86,759 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 5,555 shares during the quarter. Mather Group LLC.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $32,569,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of MSFT. Newton One Investments LLC increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 66.7% in the first quarter. Newton One Investments LLC now owns 75 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Ball & Co Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth approximately $31,000. LSV Asset Management purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth approximately $44,000. IFS Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 50.0% during the first quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 150 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $57,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fairway Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth approximately $62,000. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Judson Althoff sold 16,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $458.18, for a total value of $7,330,880.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 98,010 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $44,906,221.80. This trade represents a 14.03% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,850 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $527.32, for a total value of $2,557,502.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 39,111 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,624,012.52. This represents a 11.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 46,350 shares of company stock valued at $21,493,447. 0.03% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. Barclays upped their target price on Microsoft from $550.00 to $625.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Citigroup upped their target price on Microsoft from $605.00 to $613.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. TD Cowen upped their target price on Microsoft from $580.00 to $640.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, UBS Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $650.00 target price (up from $600.00) on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $609.86.

Microsoft Price Performance

MSFT stock opened at $522.48 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 1.35. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.88 trillion, a P/E ratio of 38.30, a P/E/G ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 1.06. The business’s 50-day moving average is $501.60 and its two-hundred day moving average is $440.51. Microsoft Corporation has a 1 year low of $344.79 and a 1 year high of $555.45.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $3.65 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.35 by $0.30. Microsoft had a return on equity of 32.44% and a net margin of 36.15%. The business had revenue of $76.44 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $73.79 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.95 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.1% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 21st will be given a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 21st. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 24.34%.

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.