Howard Wealth Management LLC Cuts Position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Howard Wealth Management LLC trimmed its position in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 2.5% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 3,238 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 84 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises about 1.0% of Howard Wealth Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 27th biggest position. Howard Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $1,103,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 112,158.6% in the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 150,187,424 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $36,017,948,000 after purchasing an additional 150,053,637 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $20,700,525,000. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 35,465.9% in the first quarter. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 20,611,140 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $66,852,000 after purchasing an additional 20,553,188 shares in the last quarter. Providence Capital Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 29,789.2% in the first quarter. Providence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 16,570,893 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $57,477,000 after purchasing an additional 16,515,452 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 14.0% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 119,417,954 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $28,638,815,000 after purchasing an additional 14,652,150 shares in the last quarter. 69.20% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Microsoft Trading Down 1.7 %

Shares of MSFT stock opened at $369.85 on Friday. Microsoft Co. has a fifty-two week low of $219.35 and a fifty-two week high of $376.35. The stock has a market cap of $2.75 trillion, a P/E ratio of 35.80, a P/E/G ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 0.88. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $336.17 and a 200-day simple moving average of $331.59. The company has a quick ratio of 1.64, a current ratio of 1.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 24th. The software giant reported $2.99 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.65 by $0.34. The business had revenue of $56.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $54.52 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 38.79% and a net margin of 35.31%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.35 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 11.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 14th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.75 per share. 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 0.81%. This is a positive change from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 29.04%.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In related news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 38,234 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 800,668 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $262,963,391.24. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 38,234 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 800,668 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $262,963,391.24. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, 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 value of $8,778,426.55. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 198,373 shares in the company, valued at approximately $64,941,369.01. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MSFT has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Guggenheim raised Microsoft from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, September 25th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $400.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a report on Monday, October 2nd. StockNews.com assumed coverage on Microsoft in a report on Thursday, October 5th. They issued a “buy” rating for the company. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $410.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, October 25th. Finally, Raymond James increased their price objective on Microsoft from $320.00 to $400.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, July 24th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $385.11.

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.