ABLE Financial Group LLC Reduces Stock Position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

ABLE Financial Group LLC lessened its holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 3.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 15,267 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 619 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up about 2.5% of ABLE Financial Group LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 13th largest position. ABLE Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $5,741,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of MSFT. FMR LLC grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 2.7% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 215,874,152 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $68,162,263,000 after purchasing an additional 5,762,902 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 9.3% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 28,987,007 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $9,152,647,000 after purchasing an additional 2,456,190 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth about $9,625,201,000. California Public Employees Retirement System grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 9.2% during the third quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 21,375,375 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $6,749,275,000 after purchasing an additional 1,796,956 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James & Associates grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.8% during the third quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 10,671,615 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $3,369,562,000 after purchasing an additional 88,583 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Stock Up 1.8 %

MSFT stock opened at $406.32 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.02 trillion, a P/E ratio of 35.18, a PEG ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 0.89. 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 Co. has a one year low of $295.25 and a one year high of $430.82. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $414.48 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $388.12.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The software giant reported $2.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.81 by $0.13. Microsoft had a net margin of 36.43% and a return on equity of 38.87%. The company had revenue of $61.86 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $60.86 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.45 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 17.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 11.61 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 15th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.74%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is presently 25.97%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently issued reports on MSFT. Macquarie raised their price target on Microsoft from $430.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. KeyCorp began coverage on Microsoft in a report on Thursday, March 21st. They set an “overweight” rating and a $490.00 price target on the stock. Evercore ISI raised their price target on Microsoft from $475.00 to $485.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday. Truist Financial reissued a “buy” rating and set a $600.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a report on Monday, March 25th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on Microsoft from $450.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $452.61.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 3,303 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $406.12, for a total transaction of $1,341,414.36. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 570,826 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $231,823,855.12. The sale 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 3,303 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on Monday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $406.12, for a total transaction of $1,341,414.36. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 570,826 shares in the company, valued at approximately $231,823,855.12. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 45,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on Friday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $411.78, for a total transaction of $18,530,100.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 574,129 shares in the company, valued at approximately $236,414,839.62. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 1,070,258 shares of company stock valued at $30,690,456 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

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.