Buckley Wealth Management LLC Trims Stock Holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Buckley Wealth Management LLC cut its holdings in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 0.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 70,474 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 457 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for approximately 9.1% of Buckley Wealth Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 2nd biggest holding. Buckley Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $29,705,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in MSFT. Muirfield Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in Microsoft by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Muirfield Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,427 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $1,866,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. Retirement Financial Solutions LLC grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Retirement Financial Solutions LLC now owns 1,050 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $443,000 after buying an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. Boulder Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 1.0% during the third quarter. Boulder Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,569 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $1,106,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Sterling Group Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Microsoft by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Sterling Group Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,540 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $2,335,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kuhn & Co Investment Counsel lifted its position in Microsoft by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Kuhn & Co Investment Counsel now owns 3,286 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $1,385,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Microsoft Stock Down 1.2%

MSFT stock opened at $452.57 on Thursday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $399.71 and its 200-day moving average price is $413.31. The stock has a market cap of $3.36 trillion, a P/E ratio of 36.44, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.99. 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 Co. has a twelve month low of $344.79 and a twelve month high of $468.35.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.22 by $0.24. The business 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%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.94 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Investors 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 dividend yield of 0.73%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 25.66%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 6,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Judson Althoff sold 16,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $458.18, for a total value of $7,330,880.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 98,010 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $44,906,221.80. This trade represents a 14.03% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 110,243 shares of company stock valued at $48,619,618. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently weighed in on MSFT. Cantor Fitzgerald boosted their price target on Microsoft from $502.00 to $512.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Barclays boosted their target price on Microsoft from $430.00 to $494.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Mizuho raised their price target on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $500.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Tigress Financial boosted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $550.00 to $595.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, Benchmark restated a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Microsoft presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $512.63.

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.