Sigma Investment Counselors Inc. has recently been in the news for raising its position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 8.2% during the fourth quarter. As per the company’s latest filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, Sigma Investment Counselors Inc. now owns 58,980 shares of Microsoft stock after purchasing an additional 4,470 shares during Q4. Industry experts believe that Microsoft will benefit in 2021 due to a combination of increased demand for its cloud services and potential new hardware releases.
The market has responded positively to Microsoft’s final quarter earnings in January, where it had a net margin of 33.05% and revenue of $52.75 billion for Q4, putting the company on track to post a per-share profit of around $9 for fiscal year 2021. Despite this growth and optimism towards future developments, however, CEO Satya Nadella has sold more than 4,700 shares of Microsoft stock at an average price of approximately $250 per share over recent weeks resulting in enthusiasts either questioning or endorsing their vetting techniques.
On Monday, February 13th Chief Marketing Officer Christopher C. Capossela sold roughly $272,320 worth of the company’s stock at an average price point of $272.32 per share. These sales come as part of Nadella’s plan that was filed back in August 2020 and work out at a total value transaction amounting to around $1 million based on current stock prices. Nadella currently holds around eight hundred thousand shares where he had held closer to nine hundred thousand before taking up his current role within Microsoft.
Despite insider selling activity over recent weeks,Sigma Investment Counselors Inc.’s most recent purchase makes it clear that they feel optimistic about Microsoft’s long-term future prospects stating the software giant as its 22nd largest position, accounting for approximately 1.2% of its total portfolio. This move bySigma Investment Counselors Inc. further indicates how MSFT is on the rise and becoming increasingly larger when it comes to portfolio management. The technology company has recently been making headlines due to healthy profits and bright earning reports, not forgetting its increasing influence across cloud-based solutions with projects such as Azure as well as other services like Windows. Indeed, industry experts believe that this growth trend will continue over upcoming months.
Microsoft Attracts Large Investors While CEO and Insiders Sell Shares
Microsoft Continues to Attract Large Investors as CEO and Insiders Sell Shares
Several large investors have recently increased or decreased their stakes in Microsoft. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in the company during the fourth quarter, while Monumental Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the first quarter.
Hanseatic Management Services Inc. also boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 71.4% in the third quarter, now owning 132 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares during that time period.
Additionally, Retirement Financial Solutions LLC acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft valued at around $40,000 during the fourth quarter. Macroview Investment Management LLC also purchased a new stake in Microsoft during the same period for approximately $61,000.
Currently, 69.15% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
Microsoft opened at $281.77 on Tuesday and has a 50-day simple moving average of $271.11 and a 200-day simple moving average of $251.86. The company has a market capitalization of $2.10 trillion, with a P/E ratio of 31.31, P/E/G ratio of 2.53 and beta of 0.93.
CEO Satya Nadella recently sold almost 5,000 shares of Microsoft stock at an average price of $248.88 per share for a total transaction value exceeding $1 million dollars.
CMO Christopher C.Capossela also sold some of his holdings within the company for more than $270,000.They were just two instances among other transactions conducted within the company over recent months where insiders have been selling sharesworth more than one point seven million dollars (USD).
Microsoft’s business has announced that it will pay out dividends amounting to respectively$0.68 per share on Tuesday, June 6th, at present yielding 0.97% with an annual dividend payout ratio currently sitting at 30.22%.
Research firms have also recently commented on Microsoft, with Bank of America raising its price target from $300 to$320 and listed the stock as a “buy”. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price from $310 to$325 for the same shares andgave it a “market perform” rating. One analyst gave it a sell rating, and six analysts assigned the company a holdrating. Meanwhile, twenty-eight analysts rated it as “Moderate Buy” with an average target price of $299.44 according to data from Bloomberg.
With many large investors continuing to add or decrease their stakes in Microsoft, it will be interesting to see how this affects the company’s future performance in the technology sector moving forward.
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