Indie Asset Partners LLC Trims Stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Indie Asset Partners LLC decreased its position in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 0.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 9,040 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 48 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up about 3.1% of Indie Asset Partners LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 5th largest position. Indie Asset Partners LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $3,399,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in MSFT. Sicart Associates LLC raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 2.9% during the 4th quarter. Sicart Associates LLC now owns 926 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $348,000 after acquiring an additional 26 shares during the period. Capital Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 26 shares during the period. Mayfair Advisory Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Mayfair Advisory Group LLC now owns 3,866 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,434,000 after acquiring an additional 27 shares during the period. Triton Wealth Management PLLC raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Triton Wealth Management PLLC now owns 5,864 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $2,167,000 after acquiring an additional 28 shares during the period. Finally, O Connor Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 1.4% during the 3rd 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 during the period. 71.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,955 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on 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 directly 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 SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,955 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 159,764 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $64,538,265.44. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Corp Microsoft sold 1,000,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 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 insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Citigroup decreased their target price on Microsoft from $480.00 to $475.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Truist Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $600.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a report on Monday, March 25th. Stifel Nicolaus reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $455.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Barclays increased their price objective on Microsoft from $421.00 to $475.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Finally, Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and set a $465.00 price target (up previously from $455.00) on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $452.61.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of MSFT stock opened at $409.34 on Wednesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $413.84 and a 200 day moving average price of $392.05. The stock has a market cap of $3.04 trillion, a PE ratio of 35.44, a P/E/G ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 0.89. Microsoft Co. has a 1 year low of $306.09 and a 1 year high of $430.82. 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 (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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. The firm had revenue of $61.86 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $60.86 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 37.54% and a net margin of 36.43%. Microsoft’s revenue was up 17.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.45 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 11.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 16th will be issued 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 0.73%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is presently 25.97%.

Microsoft 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.