Bay Colony Advisory Group Inc d b a Bay Colony Advisors cut its position in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 5.1% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 35,197 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 1,896 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up 2.6% of Bay Colony Advisory Group Inc d b a Bay Colony Advisors' portfolio, making the stock its 4th largest holding. Bay Colony Advisory Group Inc d b a Bay Colony Advisors' holdings in Microsoft were worth $9,998,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.
Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in Microsoft by 112,158.6% during the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 150,187,424 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $36,017,948,000 after purchasing an additional 150,053,637 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Microsoft during the fourth quarter valued at $20,700,525,000. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 35,465.9% during the first quarter. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 20,611,140 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $66,852,000 after purchasing an additional 20,553,188 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 14.0% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 119,417,954 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $28,638,815,000 after buying an additional 14,652,150 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC increased its position in Microsoft by 98.1% during the fourth quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 15,218,570 shares of the software giant's stock worth $3,649,717,000 after purchasing an additional 7,534,774 shares during the last quarter. 72.20% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.
Analysts Set New Price Targets
A number of brokerages recently weighed in on MSFT. Raymond James lifted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $320.00 to $400.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, July 24th. DA Davidson upped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $350.00 to $415.00 in a research report on Friday, July 21st. Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $340.00 to $405.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 19th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $335.00 to $415.00 in a research note on Thursday, July 6th. Finally, Wolfe Research increased their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $330.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and thirty-two have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $370.76.
Microsoft Trading Up 0.3 %
Shares of MSFT opened at $327.78 on Monday. The business's 50-day moving average price is $337.06 and its 200 day moving average price is $298.59. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.44 trillion, a P/E ratio of 33.83, a P/E/G ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 0.90. Microsoft Co. has a 1-year low of $213.43 and a 1-year high of $366.78. The company has a current ratio of 1.77, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20.
Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 25th. The software giant reported $2.69 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.55 by $0.14. Microsoft had a return on equity of 38.70% and a net margin of 34.15%. The company had revenue of $56.19 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $55.49 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.23 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 10.85 earnings per share for the current year.
Microsoft Announces Dividend
The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 14th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 17th will be given a dividend of $0.68 per share. This represents a $2.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.83%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, August 16th. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio is presently 28.07%.
Insider Activity
In other news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 50,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $337.20, for a total transaction of $16,860,000.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 588,084 shares in the company, valued at $198,301,924.80. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Microsoft news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 50,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $337.20, for a total value of $16,860,000.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 588,084 shares in the company, valued at $198,301,924.80. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Teri List sold 1,250 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, June 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $334.77, for a total value of $418,462.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 874 shares in the company, valued at $292,588.98. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 66,331 shares of company stock worth $21,994,328. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.
Microsoft Profile
(Free Report)Microsoft Corporation develops, licenses, and supports software, services, devices, and solutions worldwide. The company operates in three segments: Productivity and Business Processes, Intelligent Cloud, and More Personal Computing. The Productivity and Business Processes segment offers Office, Exchange, SharePoint, Microsoft Teams, Office 365 Security and Compliance, Microsoft Viva, and Skype for Business; Skype, Outlook.com, OneDrive, and LinkedIn; and Dynamics 365, a set of cloud-based and on-premises business solutions for organizations and enterprise divisions.
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