Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Sold by Levin Capital Strategies L.P.

Levin Capital Strategies L.P. reduced its position in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 11.7% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 149,066 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 19,832 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises approximately 6.3% of Levin Capital Strategies L.P.'s holdings, making the stock its largest holding. Levin Capital Strategies L.P.'s holdings in Microsoft were worth $62,715,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Friedenthal Financial purchased a new stake in Microsoft during the 4th quarter valued at $45,000. Neo Ivy Capital Management purchased a new stake in Microsoft during the 4th quarter valued at $58,000. Richardson Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Microsoft by 1,290.0% during the 1st quarter. Richardson Capital Management LLC now owns 139 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $59,000 after buying an additional 129 shares during the period. PayPay Securities Corp raised its holdings in Microsoft by 23.7% during the 4th quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 188 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $71,000 after buying an additional 36 shares during the period. Finally, Bellevue Group AG raised its holdings in Microsoft by 47.5% during the 1st quarter. Bellevue Group AG now owns 180 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $76,000 after buying an additional 58 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently weighed in on MSFT. Oppenheimer increased their price target on Microsoft from $450.00 to $500.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, June 7th. Wedbush reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $550.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Macquarie increased their target price on Microsoft from $460.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, May 17th. Mizuho increased their target price on Microsoft from $450.00 to $480.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. Finally, Citigroup reduced their target price on Microsoft from $520.00 to $500.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-two have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $494.72.

Microsoft Stock Down 0.2 %

NASDAQ MSFT traded down $0.66 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $424.14. The company's stock had a trading volume of 15,750,560 shares, compared to its average volume of 20,917,412. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 1.27 and a quick ratio of 1.23. The company has a market cap of $3.15 trillion, a PE ratio of 36.72, a P/E/G ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.90. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $436.09 and its 200-day simple moving average is $422.67. Microsoft Co. has a fifty-two week low of $309.45 and a fifty-two week high of $468.35.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $2.95 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.90 by $0.05. Microsoft had a return on equity of 35.95% and a net margin of 35.96%. The firm had revenue of $64.73 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $64.38 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.69 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 13.04 EPS for the current fiscal 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 issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.71%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 15th. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.