Sentry LLC Sells 120 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Sentry LLC cut its holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 0.4% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 30,749 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 120 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for about 2.4% of Sentry LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest position. Sentry LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $12,937,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Gunderson Capital Management Inc. grew its position in Microsoft by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Gunderson Capital Management Inc. now owns 24,887 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $9,359,000 after buying an additional 185 shares during the last quarter. Bailard Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. Bailard Inc. now owns 470,301 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $148,497,000 after acquiring an additional 5,366 shares in the last quarter. RNC Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Microsoft by 10.4% in the 4th quarter. RNC Capital Management LLC now owns 69,053 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $25,967,000 after purchasing an additional 6,484 shares in the last quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky raised its holdings in Microsoft by 7.7% during the 3rd quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky now owns 17,471 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $5,516,000 after buying an additional 1,245 shares during the period. Finally, Bensler LLC lifted its stake in Microsoft by 3.2% during the third quarter. Bensler LLC now owns 86,932 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $27,449,000 after buying an additional 2,674 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,955 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $403.96, for a total value of $8,868,941.80. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 159,764 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $64,538,265.44. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Microsoft news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,955 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $403.96, for a total transaction of $8,868,941.80. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 159,764 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $64,538,265.44. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Corp Microsoft sold 1,000,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $1.95, for a total value of $1,950,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 11,677,398 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,770,926.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 1,070,258 shares of company stock worth $30,690,456. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Microsoft stock traded up $7.28 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $406.32. The company had a trading volume of 29,640,094 shares, compared to its average volume of 18,152,042. The company has a 50 day moving average of $414.48 and a 200-day moving average of $387.70. Microsoft Co. has a 52 week low of $295.25 and a 52 week high of $430.82. The company has a quick ratio of 1.20, a current ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19. The firm has a market cap of $3.02 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.18, a PEG ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 0.89.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The software giant reported $2.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.81 by $0.13. Microsoft had a return on equity of 38.87% and a net margin of 36.43%. The firm had revenue of $61.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $60.86 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.45 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 17.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 11.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 16th will be issued a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.74%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 15th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.97%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $465.00 to $489.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $465.00 to $520.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $465.00 target price (up previously from $455.00) on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday. StockNews.com downgraded Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 22nd. Finally, DA Davidson reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $500.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Friday, March 15th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-two have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $452.61.

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.