Essex Private Wealth Management LLC Has $464,000 Stock Holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Essex Private Wealth Management LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 19.8% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 1,233 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 305 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises 1.4% of Essex Private Wealth Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 18th largest holding. Essex Private Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $464,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at $9,625,201,000. FMR LLC grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 2.7% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 215,874,152 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $68,162,263,000 after buying an additional 5,762,902 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC lifted its position in Microsoft by 277.8% in the 4th quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 7,004,341 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $2,633,912,000 after acquiring an additional 5,150,160 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC lifted its position in Microsoft by 9.3% in the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. Finally, AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc bought a new stake in Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at $679,928,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, major shareholder Corp Microsoft sold 1,000,000 shares of the company’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 sale, the insider now owns 11,677,398 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,770,926.10. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,955 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $403.96, for a total transaction of $8,868,941.80. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 159,764 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $64,538,265.44. The sale 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 company’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 sale, 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. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $410.54 on Thursday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $413.84 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $392.05. Microsoft Co. has a 12-month low of $306.26 and a 12-month high of $430.82. The firm has a market cap of $3.05 trillion, a PE ratio of 35.54, a PEG ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a quick ratio of 1.23, a current ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The software giant reported $2.94 earnings per share (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 firm had revenue of $61.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $60.86 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.45 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 17.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict 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 given a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 15th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.73%. Microsoft’s payout ratio is presently 25.97%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently commented on MSFT. UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $480.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. DA Davidson reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $500.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday, March 15th. StockNews.com cut shares of Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 22nd. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $465.00 price objective (up from $455.00) on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Finally, Truist Financial reissued a “buy” rating and set a $600.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Monday, March 25th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $452.61.

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.