Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Sold by Wealthfront Advisers LLC

Wealthfront Advisers LLC cut its stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 88.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 72,459 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 567,865 shares during the period. Wealthfront Advisers LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $30,541,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of MSFT. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Microsoft by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 165,024,812 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $70,790,682,000 after acquiring an additional 3,264,648 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its stake in Microsoft by 4.1% during the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 54,590,791 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $23,490,417,000 after acquiring an additional 2,125,030 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Microsoft by 3.9% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 49,052,704 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $20,675,715,000 after acquiring an additional 1,823,579 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in Microsoft by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 38,420,657 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $16,104,959,000 after acquiring an additional 406,940 shares during the period. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Microsoft by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 28,228,502 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $11,898,314,000 after acquiring an additional 324,052 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Microsoft Trading Up 0.3%

Shares of MSFT opened at $454.27 on Friday. Microsoft Co. has a 52-week low of $344.79 and a 52-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. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $395.33 and its two-hundred day moving average is $412.48. The stock has a market cap of $3.38 trillion, a PE ratio of 36.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.99.

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, topping the consensus estimate of $3.22 by $0.24. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.43% and a return on equity of 33.36%. The company had revenue of $70.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $68.54 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.94 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.73%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.66%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have commented on the stock. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $430.00 to $494.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $435.00 to $500.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Cantor Fitzgerald lifted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $502.00 to $512.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $515.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Five 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 price target of $510.30.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Amy Coleman sold 13,243 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $452.01, for a total transaction of $5,985,968.43. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 43,100 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,481,631. The trade was a 23.50% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 75,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $436.05, for a total transaction of $32,703,750.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 476,999 shares in the company, valued at approximately $207,995,413.95. The trade was a 13.59% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 94,243 shares of company stock valued at $41,288,738 in the last 90 days. 0.03% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.