Seven Eight Capital LP Sells 9,780 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Seven Eight Capital LP decreased its stake in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 59.0% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 6,798 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 9,780 shares during the period. Seven Eight Capital LP's holdings in Microsoft were worth $3,038,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 169.2% during the 2nd quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 70 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 44 shares during the period. Richardson Capital Management LLC boosted its stake 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 acquiring an additional 129 shares during the last quarter. Innealta Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Microsoft during the second quarter worth about $75,000. Bellevue Group AG grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 47.5% in the 1st quarter. Bellevue Group AG now owns 180 shares of the software giant's stock worth $76,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Microsoft by 36.8% during the first quarter. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC now owns 305 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $128,000 after purchasing an additional 82 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In related news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 40,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $402.59, for a total transaction of $16,103,600.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 544,847 shares of the company's stock, valued at $219,349,953.73. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, CFO Amy Hood sold 38,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $410.55, for a total value of $15,600,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 496,369 shares in the company, valued at approximately $203,784,292.95. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 40,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 544,847 shares in the company, valued at $219,349,953.73. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 190,629 shares of company stock worth $77,916,485. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently commented on MSFT. Citigroup lowered their target price on Microsoft from $500.00 to $497.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Wedbush reissued an "underperform" rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Friday, October 18th. BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on Microsoft from $500.00 to $495.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, UBS Group decreased their target price on shares of Microsoft from $510.00 to $500.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 31st. One research 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Microsoft currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $503.03.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Microsoft stock traded up $3.00 on Tuesday, reaching $411.46. 17,580,359 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 20,411,156. The company has a current ratio of 1.30, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $420.59 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $424.74. The stock has a market cap of $3.06 trillion, a PE ratio of 34.21, a PEG ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 0.91. Microsoft Co. has a twelve month low of $353.35 and a twelve month high of $468.35.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.10 by $0.20. Microsoft had a return on equity of 34.56% and a net margin of 35.61%. The firm had revenue of $65.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $64.57 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.99 EPS. The company's revenue was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 12.96 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft declared that its board has initiated a stock buyback program on Monday, September 16th that allows the company to repurchase $60.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the software giant to buy up to 1.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically a sign that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be given a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.81%. This is a positive change from Microsoft's previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 24.75%.

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.