Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Sold by Ascension Capital Advisors Inc.

Ascension Capital Advisors Inc. cut its stake in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 0.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 5,282 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 29 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up approximately 1.0% of Ascension Capital Advisors Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 17th largest holding. Ascension Capital Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $2,226,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Adamsbrown Wealth Consultants LLC boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Adamsbrown Wealth Consultants LLC now owns 5,967 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $2,515,000 after purchasing an additional 130 shares during the last quarter. Mcdaniel Terry & Co. boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 6.1% during the 4th quarter. Mcdaniel Terry & Co. now owns 315,594 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $133,023,000 after buying an additional 18,052 shares during the last quarter. Campbell Wealth Management acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the third quarter worth approximately $3,314,000. Centric Wealth Management increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 0.7% in the third quarter. Centric Wealth Management now owns 16,156 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $6,789,000 after buying an additional 112 shares during the last quarter. Finally, 1900 Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Microsoft by 3.0% in the fourth quarter. 1900 Wealth Management LLC now owns 10,140 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $4,274,000 after acquiring an additional 294 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ MSFT opened at $425.40 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $3.16 trillion, a P/E ratio of 34.25, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.00. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $384.18 and its 200 day simple moving average is $411.01. Microsoft Co. has a fifty-two week low of $344.79 and a fifty-two week high of $468.35. The company has a quick ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.22 by $0.24. The company had revenue of $70.07 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $68.54 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.43% and a return on equity of 33.36%. Microsoft’s revenue was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.94 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.78%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. Microsoft’s payout ratio is currently 26.73%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have weighed in on MSFT shares. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $450.00 to $480.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on Microsoft from $435.00 to $500.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday. TD Securities upped their price objective on Microsoft from $475.00 to $490.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Bank of America decreased their target price on Microsoft from $510.00 to $480.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $507.77.

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.