Forge First Asset Management Inc. Sells 10,800 Shares of Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Forge First Asset Management Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 62.3% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 6,540 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 10,800 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up about 1.2% of Forge First Asset Management Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 26th biggest holding. Forge First Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $3,251,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 88.2% in the 2nd quarter. Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd now owns 296,607 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $147,535,000 after purchasing an additional 138,990 shares during the period. Empirical Finance LLC raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 1.0% during the second quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 252,896 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $125,793,000 after buying an additional 2,457 shares during the last quarter. Anfield Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 8.7% in the second quarter. Anfield Capital Management LLC now owns 1,441 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $717,000 after buying an additional 115 shares during the period. Kingdom Financial Group LLC. lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 60.7% in the second quarter. Kingdom Financial Group LLC. now owns 2,023 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $1,007,000 after buying an additional 764 shares during the period. Finally, Brown Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Microsoft by 32.5% during the second quarter. Brown Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,988 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,984,000 after buying an additional 978 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Microsoft Stock Up 0.2%

Shares of MSFT opened at $492.02 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.66 trillion, a P/E ratio of 34.99, a PEG ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 1.07. Microsoft Corporation has a one year low of $344.79 and a one year high of $555.45. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $506.30 and its 200-day simple moving average is $502.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a current ratio of 1.40 and a quick ratio of 1.39.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The software giant reported $4.13 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.65 by $0.48. The firm had revenue of $77.67 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $75.49 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 32.45% and a net margin of 35.71%.The business’s revenue was up 18.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $3.30 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 19th will be issued a $0.91 dividend. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 19th. Microsoft’s payout ratio is currently 25.89%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Microsoft news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 2,850 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $478.72, for a total transaction of $1,364,352.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 55,782 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $26,703,959.04. This represents a 4.86% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Judson Althoff sold 12,750 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $491.52, for a total transaction of $6,266,880.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 129,349 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $63,577,620.48. The trade was a 8.97% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 54,100 shares of company stock worth $27,598,872 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have commented on MSFT shares. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $625.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $625.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday, November 19th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $637.00 to $645.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-seven have given a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $632.34.

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.