Wedgewood Partners Inc. Sells 1,091 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Wedgewood Partners Inc. trimmed its position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 1.5% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 70,615 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 1,091 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for 6.6% of Wedgewood Partners Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 7th biggest holding. Wedgewood Partners Inc.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $29,876,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MSFT. Friedenthal Financial acquired a new position in Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at $45,000. Neo Ivy Capital Management bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the 4th quarter valued at $58,000. Richardson Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 1,290.0% during the 1st quarter. Richardson Capital Management LLC now owns 139 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $59,000 after acquiring an additional 129 shares during the period. PayPay Securities Corp lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 23.7% during the 4th quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 188 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $71,000 after acquiring an additional 36 shares during the period. Finally, Bellevue Group AG lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 47.5% during the 1st quarter. Bellevue Group AG now owns 180 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $76,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Microsoft news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 244 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $415.53, for a total value of $101,389.32. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 47,011 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,534,480.83. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Stock Performance

NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $424.14 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $3.15 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.72, a PEG ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a current ratio of 1.27. The business’s fifty day moving average is $436.09 and its 200 day moving average is $422.67. Microsoft Co. has a 52-week low of $309.45 and a 52-week high of $468.35.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $2.95 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.90 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $64.73 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $64.38 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 35.95% and a net margin of 35.96%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.69 EPS. Research analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 13.04 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 15th will be paid a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 15th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.71%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is currently 25.97%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $500.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Evercore ISI upped their target price on Microsoft from $475.00 to $485.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Microsoft from $500.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their price objective on Microsoft from $465.00 to $489.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Finally, Mizuho upped their price objective on Microsoft from $450.00 to $480.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. Two investment 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, Microsoft has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $494.72.

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.