Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Sold by Meredith Wealth Planning

Meredith Wealth Planning trimmed its holdings in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 6.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 2,514 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 160 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up approximately 0.6% of Meredith Wealth Planning’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 22nd largest holding. Meredith Wealth Planning’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $945,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Microsoft during the 4th quarter valued at about $9,625,201,000. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 2.7% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 215,874,152 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $68,162,263,000 after acquiring an additional 5,762,902 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC increased its stake 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 valued at $9,152,647,000 after acquiring an additional 2,456,190 shares during the period. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc bought a new stake in Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth approximately $679,928,000. Finally, California Public Employees Retirement System lifted its position in Microsoft by 9.2% in 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 period. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on MSFT shares. Barclays lifted their price target on Microsoft from $421.00 to $475.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $465.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 1st. KeyCorp began coverage on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. They set an “overweight” rating and a $490.00 target price for the company. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $500.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Microsoft from $480.00 to $500.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-two have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $452.61.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of Microsoft stock opened at $406.66 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $413.76 and a 200-day simple moving average of $389.54. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.02 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.21, a PEG ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 0.89. Microsoft Co. has a 1-year low of $303.40 and a 1-year high of $430.82.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The software giant reported $2.94 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.81 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $61.86 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $60.86 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 36.43% and a return on equity of 37.54%. The business’s revenue was up 17.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.45 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 11.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 16th will be issued a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.74%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 15th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 25.97%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 3,303 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the insider now owns 570,826 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $231,823,855.12. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 3,303 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $406.12, for a total transaction of $1,341,414.36. Following the transaction, 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 is available at this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Corp Microsoft sold 1,000,000 shares of the firm’s 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 completion of the sale, the insider now owns 11,677,398 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,770,926.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 1,025,258 shares of company stock valued at $12,160,356 in the last three months. 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.