Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Sold by Balboa Wealth Partners

Balboa Wealth Partners decreased its holdings in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 1.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 55,011 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 910 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises approximately 5.3% of Balboa Wealth Partners’ investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd biggest holding. Balboa Wealth Partners’ holdings in Microsoft were worth $23,187,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Proficio Capital Partners LLC raised its stake in Microsoft by 34,643.3% during the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 16,837,278 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $7,096,913,000 after buying an additional 16,788,816 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its stake in Microsoft by 76.6% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 10,532,402 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $4,439,407,000 after buying an additional 4,568,539 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised 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 worth $70,790,682,000 after buying an additional 3,264,648 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 4.1% during the third 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 worth $23,490,417,000 after acquiring an additional 2,125,030 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Strategic Financial Concepts LLC increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 43,900.4% during the fourth quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 2,042,499 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $860,913,000 after acquiring an additional 2,037,857 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MSFT has been the subject of several research reports. Piper Sandler reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Raymond James upped their price target on Microsoft from $480.00 to $490.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Wedbush upped their target price on Microsoft from $475.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on Microsoft from $450.00 to $480.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock 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 company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 15th. The stock was 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 directly owns 43,100 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,481,631. This represents a 23.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 6,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $433.17, for a total value of $2,599,020.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 471,036 shares in the company, valued at $204,038,664.12. The trade was a 1.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 94,243 shares of company stock worth $41,288,738. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Stock Performance

NASDAQ MSFT opened at $458.87 on Tuesday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $396.84 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $412.71. The stock has a market cap of $3.41 trillion, a PE ratio of 36.95, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.99. Microsoft Co. has a fifty-two week low of $344.79 and a fifty-two week high of $468.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a current ratio of 1.35.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $68.54 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.94 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.72%. Microsoft’s payout ratio is currently 25.66%.

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.