Alpha Financial Partners LLC Sells 134 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Alpha Financial Partners LLC cut its holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 4.0% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 3,235 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 134 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up about 1.2% of Alpha Financial Partners LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 17th biggest holding. Alpha Financial Partners LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $1,102,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. IFM Investors Pty Ltd grew its holdings in Microsoft by 4.9% during the 2nd quarter. IFM Investors Pty Ltd now owns 1,394,992 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $475,051,000 after purchasing an additional 64,872 shares during the last quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC grew its holdings in Microsoft by 2.6% during the 2nd quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 135,974 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $46,305,000 after purchasing an additional 3,451 shares during the last quarter. Empirical Finance LLC grew its holdings in Microsoft by 12.8% during the 2nd quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 226,848 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $77,251,000 after purchasing an additional 25,754 shares during the last quarter. Conrad Siegel Investment Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Microsoft by 31.6% during the 2nd quarter. Conrad Siegel Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 3,613 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $1,230,000 after purchasing an additional 867 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Opal Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Microsoft by 19.6% during the 2nd quarter. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 10,509 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $3,579,000 after purchasing an additional 1,719 shares during the last quarter. 69.20% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Microsoft Stock Up 1.1 %

NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $356.53 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.65 trillion, a P/E ratio of 34.51, a PEG ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 0.88. Microsoft Co. has a 1-year low of $219.35 and a 1-year high of $366.78. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $328.84 and its 200-day moving average price is $326.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a current ratio of 1.66 and a quick ratio of 1.64.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 24th. The software giant reported $2.99 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.65 by $0.34. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.31% and a return on equity of 38.79%. The firm had revenue of $56.52 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $54.52 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.35 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 12.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 11.11 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 14th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 15th. This is an increase from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.84%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is 29.04%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Guggenheim raised shares of Microsoft from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, September 25th. UBS Group raised shares of Microsoft from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $345.00 to $400.00 in a research report on Friday, July 14th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $400.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Monday, October 2nd. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $340.00 to $405.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 19th. Finally, Loop Capital assumed coverage on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Tuesday, October 17th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $425.00 price objective for the company. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-five have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $384.34.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Microsoft news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 26,815 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, September 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $327.37, for a total transaction of $8,778,426.55. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 198,373 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $64,941,369.01. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Microsoft news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 26,815 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, September 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $327.37, for a total transaction of $8,778,426.55. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 198,373 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $64,941,369.01. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Satya Nadella sold 38,234 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, September 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $328.43, for a total transaction of $12,557,192.62. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 800,668 shares in the company, valued at $262,963,391.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.