Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Sold by Sterling Financial Planning Inc.

Sterling Financial Planning Inc. reduced its holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 5.6% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,444 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 144 shares during the quarter. Sterling Financial Planning Inc.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $832,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Monumental Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in Microsoft during the 1st quarter worth approximately $28,000. Syverson Strege & Co grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 157.0% in the 1st quarter. Syverson Strege & Co now owns 203 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $58,000 after acquiring an additional 124 shares in the last quarter. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 39.0% in the 2nd quarter. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 303 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $103,000 after acquiring an additional 85 shares in the last quarter. Alapocas Investment Partners Inc. acquired a new stake in Microsoft in the 1st quarter valued at about $97,000. Finally, MayTech Global Investments LLC acquired a new stake in Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth approximately $83,000. 69.20% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Microsoft Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of MSFT stock opened at $360.69 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a quick ratio of 1.64 and a current ratio of 1.66. Microsoft Co. has a 1 year low of $219.35 and a 1 year high of $366.78. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $331.49 and a two-hundred day moving average of $328.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.68 trillion, a PE ratio of 34.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 0.88.

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

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 14th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. This is a positive change from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 15th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.83%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is currently 29.04%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have weighed in on MSFT. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $385.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 26th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $400.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Monday, October 2nd. Tigress Financial increased their target price on shares of Microsoft from $411.00 to $433.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 2nd. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Microsoft from $430.00 to $432.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 26th. Finally, Mizuho lifted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $360.00 to $390.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 17th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $384.34.

Insider Activity

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

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.