Cassia Capital Partners LLC Sells 126 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Cassia Capital Partners LLC cut its stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 3.2% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 3,768 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 126 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises 1.2% of Cassia Capital Partners LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 13th largest holding. Cassia Capital Partners LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $1,417,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Lodestone Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.5% during the third quarter. Lodestone Wealth Management LLC now owns 14,103 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $4,453,000 after purchasing an additional 68 shares during the last quarter. Avity Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 5.1% during the third quarter. Avity Investment Management Inc. now owns 117,111 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $36,978,000 after purchasing an additional 5,641 shares during the last quarter. Wagner Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 1.6% during the third quarter. Wagner Wealth Management LLC now owns 8,887 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $2,806,000 after purchasing an additional 138 shares during the last quarter. Redwood Wealth Management Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 3.2% during the third quarter. Redwood Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 11,439 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $3,612,000 after purchasing an additional 357 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Riverwater Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 4.9% during the third quarter. Riverwater Partners LLC now owns 4,218 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $1,332,000 after purchasing an additional 196 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $455.00 to $465.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $485.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised 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. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Microsoft from $421.00 to $475.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on shares of Microsoft from $465.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 1st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $452.61.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

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

Microsoft Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of Microsoft stock opened at $410.54 on Thursday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $413.84 and a 200 day moving average of $392.05. Microsoft Co. has a fifty-two week low of $306.26 and a fifty-two week high of $430.82. The company has a market capitalization of $3.05 trillion, a P/E ratio of 35.54, a P/E/G 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 (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The software giant reported $2.94 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $61.86 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $60.86 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.45 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 11.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 13th. Investors 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 dividend yield of 0.73%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 15th. Microsoft’s payout ratio is 25.97%.

Microsoft Company 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.