Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Stock Holdings Reduced by Beacon Financial Advisory LLC

Beacon Financial Advisory LLC cut its position in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 1.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 8,604 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 98 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for about 1.6% of Beacon Financial Advisory LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 10th largest position. Beacon Financial Advisory LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $3,236,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in MSFT. Lodestone Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Microsoft by 0.5% during the third quarter. Lodestone Wealth Management LLC now owns 14,103 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $4,453,000 after purchasing an additional 68 shares during the last quarter. Stewardship Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Microsoft in the third quarter worth about $216,000. Constant Guidance Financial LLC acquired a new stake in Microsoft in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $633,000. CWM LLC increased its position in Microsoft by 7.5% in the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 701,305 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $221,437,000 after buying an additional 48,944 shares during the period. Finally, AE Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 7.4% in the third quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,004,612 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $317,206,000 after acquiring an additional 68,848 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently commented on MSFT shares. Macquarie upped their target price on shares of Microsoft from $430.00 to $450.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Stifel Nicolaus reissued a “buy” rating and set a $455.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Monday. Truist Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $600.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a report on Monday, March 25th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on Microsoft from $465.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 1st. Finally, UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $480.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $434.05.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 3,303 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $406.12, for a total value of $1,341,414.36. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 570,826 shares in the company, valued at $231,823,855.12. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other Microsoft news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 3,303 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $406.12, for a total value of $1,341,414.36. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 570,826 shares in the company, valued at $231,823,855.12. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Corp Microsoft sold 1,000,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $1.95, for a total value of $1,950,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 11,677,398 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,770,926.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 1,070,258 shares of company stock worth $30,690,456 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $407.57 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.03 trillion, a P/E ratio of 36.85, a P/E/G ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a current ratio of 1.22, a quick ratio of 1.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19. Microsoft Co. has a 1-year low of $275.37 and a 1-year high of $430.82. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $414.60 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $386.93.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 30th. The software giant reported $2.93 earnings per share 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $61.14 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.32 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 17.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 11.61 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 16th will be paid 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 0.74%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 27.12%.

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.