Benchmark Wealth Management LLC Has $423,000 Holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Benchmark Wealth Management LLC cut its holdings in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 6.6% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 1,124 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 80 shares during the quarter. Benchmark Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $423,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. High Pines Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 1.3% during the third quarter. High Pines Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,256 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $712,000 after acquiring an additional 28 shares during the period. Sonen Capital LLC lifted its stake in Microsoft by 0.3% in the third quarter. Sonen Capital LLC now owns 10,132 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $3,199,000 after buying an additional 28 shares during the period. Perritt Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in Microsoft by 3.3% in the third quarter. Perritt Capital Management Inc. now owns 937 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $296,000 after buying an additional 30 shares during the period. Noble Family Wealth LLC lifted its stake in Microsoft by 1.3% in the third quarter. Noble Family Wealth LLC now owns 2,331 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $736,000 after buying an additional 31 shares during the period. Finally, O Connor Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in Microsoft by 1.4% in the third quarter. O Connor Financial Group LLC now owns 2,191 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $692,000 after buying an additional 31 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have weighed in on MSFT. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on Microsoft from $415.00 to $450.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $455.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, January 25th. DA Davidson reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $500.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Friday, March 15th. Macquarie increased their target price on Microsoft from $430.00 to $450.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Finally, Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $500.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-six have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $430.52.

Microsoft Stock Down 2.0 %

MSFT stock opened at $413.64 on Tuesday. Microsoft Co. has a twelve month low of $275.37 and a twelve month high of $430.82. The company has a market cap of $3.07 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.40, a P/E/G ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 0.89. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $415.35 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $383.26. The company has a quick ratio of 1.20, a current ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 30th. The software giant reported $2.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.76 by $0.17. Microsoft had a return on equity of 38.40% and a net margin of 36.27%. The company had revenue of $62.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $61.14 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.32 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 17.6% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 11.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 16th will be given a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 15th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.73%. Microsoft’s payout ratio is 27.12%.

Insider Activity

In related news, major shareholder Corp Microsoft sold 1,000,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $1.95, for a total transaction of $1,950,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 11,677,398 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,770,926.10. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,955 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $403.96, for a total transaction of $8,868,941.80. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 159,764 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $64,538,265.44. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Corp Microsoft sold 1,000,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $1.95, for a total value of $1,950,000.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 11,677,398 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,770,926.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 1,070,258 shares of company stock valued at $30,690,456 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft 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.