Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Sold by Richard Bernstein Advisors LLC

Richard Bernstein Advisors LLC lowered its stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 3.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 140,713 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 5,076 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up about 1.3% of Richard Bernstein Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 20th biggest position. Richard Bernstein Advisors LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $59,311,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth approximately $38,000. IFS Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 53.8% during the 4th quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 100 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares during the period. Avondale Wealth Management boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 144.4% during the fourth quarter. Avondale Wealth Management now owns 110 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the third quarter valued at $62,000. Finally, Kieckhefer Group LLC acquired a new position in Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at $141,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Trading Up 7.6 %

NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $425.40 on Friday. Microsoft Co. has a one year low of $344.79 and a one year high of $468.35. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $384.18 and its 200 day simple moving average is $411.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a current ratio of 1.35. The stock has a market cap of $3.16 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.00.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.22 by $0.24. Microsoft had a return on equity of 33.36% and a net margin of 35.43%. The company had revenue of $70.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $68.54 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.94 EPS. Microsoft’s quarterly revenue was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be given a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.78%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. Microsoft’s payout ratio is currently 26.73%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have commented on MSFT. UBS Group lowered their price target on Microsoft from $510.00 to $480.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 14th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $435.00 to $500.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald increased their target price on Microsoft from $502.00 to $512.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $507.77.

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.