Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Position Decreased by S.E.E.D. Planning Group LLC

S.E.E.D. Planning Group LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 8.6% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 26,113 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 2,464 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises 4.0% of S.E.E.D. Planning Group LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest holding. S.E.E.D. Planning Group LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $9,819,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 89.0% during the 3rd quarter. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC now owns 223 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $70,000 after buying an additional 105 shares in the last quarter. Authentikos Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new position in shares of Microsoft during the 3rd quarter valued at about $87,000. Family CFO Inc raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 13.6% during the 3rd quarter. Family CFO Inc now owns 359 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $113,000 after buying an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. Cordant Inc. lifted its position in Microsoft by 647.8% in the 4th quarter. Cordant Inc. now owns 344 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $129,000 after buying an additional 298 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Life Planning Partners Inc purchased a new stake in Microsoft in the fourth quarter worth approximately $146,000. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Microsoft from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $471.00 price objective for the company in a report on Thursday, January 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $440.00 to $470.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Truist Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $600.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a report on Monday, March 25th. KeyCorp initiated coverage on Microsoft in a report on Thursday, March 21st. They set an “overweight” rating and a $490.00 target price for the company. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on Microsoft from $455.00 to $465.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 12th. 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 MarketBeat.com, Microsoft presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $452.61.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In other news, major shareholder Corp Microsoft sold 1,000,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $1.95, for a total transaction of $1,950,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 11,677,398 shares in the company, valued at $22,770,926.10. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,955 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 159,764 shares in the company, valued at approximately $64,538,265.44. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 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 transaction of $1,950,000.00. Following the transaction, 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. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Microsoft Trading Up 2.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ MSFT opened at $406.66 on Monday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $413.68 and its 200-day moving average price is $390.88. The company has a market cap of $3.02 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.21, a PEG ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a current ratio of 1.24. Microsoft Co. has a fifty-two week low of $303.40 and a fifty-two week high of $430.82.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The software giant reported $2.94 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.81 by $0.13. Microsoft had a net margin of 36.43% and a return on equity of 37.54%. The company had revenue of $61.86 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $60.86 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.45 earnings per share. Microsoft’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.0% compared to the same quarter last year. 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. Investors 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 yield of 0.74%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 25.97%.

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.