Towerpoint Wealth LLC Lowers Stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Towerpoint Wealth LLC lessened its position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 0.4% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 8,348 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 35 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises 1.7% of Towerpoint Wealth LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 16th biggest holding. Towerpoint Wealth LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $3,139,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Levy Wealth Management Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Levy Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 11,924 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $4,484,000 after acquiring an additional 194 shares in the last quarter. Factory Mutual Insurance Co. raised its position in Microsoft by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Factory Mutual Insurance Co. now owns 1,146,098 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $430,979,000 after purchasing an additional 10,000 shares during the period. Venturi Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Microsoft by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 72,496 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $27,261,000 after purchasing an additional 662 shares during the last quarter. Integrated Investment Consultants LLC boosted its position in Microsoft by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Integrated Investment Consultants LLC now owns 23,975 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $9,016,000 after buying an additional 370 shares during the period. Finally, Better Money Decisions LLC grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 4.7% during the fourth quarter. Better Money Decisions LLC now owns 2,446 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $920,000 after buying an additional 110 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. DA Davidson restated a “buy” rating and set a $500.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Friday, March 15th. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $455.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, January 25th. Raymond James increased their price target on shares of Microsoft from $400.00 to $450.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Citigroup decreased their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $480.00 to $475.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Finally, Truist Financial reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $600.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Monday, March 25th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Microsoft presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $434.05.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,955 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $403.96, for a total value of $8,868,941.80. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 159,764 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $64,538,265.44. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 45,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $411.78, for a total value of $18,530,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 574,129 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $236,414,839.62. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,955 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $403.96, for a total value of $8,868,941.80. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 159,764 shares in the company, valued at $64,538,265.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 1,070,258 shares of company stock valued at $30,690,456. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Trading Up 1.6 %

Shares of NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $407.57 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $414.60 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $386.93. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.03 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.85, a PEG ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 0.89. Microsoft Co. has a 52-week low of $275.37 and a 52-week high of $430.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a quick ratio of 1.20 and a current ratio of 1.22.

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

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 16th will be given a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 15th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.74%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 27.12%.

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.