Financial Counselors Inc. Decreases Stock Holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Financial Counselors Inc. lessened its position in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 1.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 703,456 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 9,196 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up about 4.7% of Financial Counselors Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest holding. Financial Counselors Inc.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $264,527,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in MSFT. Sicart Associates LLC boosted its stake in Microsoft by 2.9% during the fourth quarter. Sicart Associates LLC now owns 926 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $348,000 after acquiring an additional 26 shares in the last quarter. Capital Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Capital Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,592 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $599,000 after purchasing an additional 26 shares in the last quarter. Mayfair Advisory Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Mayfair Advisory Group LLC now owns 3,866 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $1,434,000 after buying an additional 27 shares during the period. Triton Wealth Management PLLC increased its position in Microsoft by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Triton Wealth Management PLLC now owns 5,864 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $2,167,000 after buying an additional 28 shares in the last quarter. Finally, O Connor Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 1.4% in the third quarter. O Connor Financial Group LLC now owns 2,191 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $692,000 after acquiring an additional 31 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on MSFT shares. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on Microsoft from $415.00 to $450.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. DA Davidson restated a “buy” rating and set a $500.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a report on Friday, March 15th. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $465.00 price objective (up from $455.00) on shares of Microsoft in a report on Friday, April 26th. Macquarie upped their target price on shares of Microsoft from $430.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their price target on Microsoft from $465.00 to $489.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $452.61.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of MSFT stock opened at $413.54 on Tuesday. Microsoft Co. has a 12 month low of $306.09 and a 12 month high of $430.82. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.07 trillion, a P/E ratio of 35.80, a PEG ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 0.89. 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’s 50 day moving average is $413.80 and its 200 day moving average is $391.46.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The software giant reported $2.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.81 by $0.13. Microsoft had a return on equity of 37.54% and a net margin of 36.43%. The firm had revenue of $61.86 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $60.86 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.45 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 17.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 11.76 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 given a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.73%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 15th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is presently 25.97%.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In related news, major shareholder Corp Microsoft sold 1,000,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 11,677,398 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,770,926.10. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,955 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $403.96, for a total transaction of $8,868,941.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 159,764 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $64,538,265.44. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Corp Microsoft sold 1,000,000 shares of the business’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 completion of the transaction, the insider now directly 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 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.