Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV Has $5.57 Million Stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV trimmed its holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 8.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 13,208 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 1,195 shares during the period. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $5,567,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of MSFT. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth about $38,000. IFS Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Microsoft by 53.8% during the fourth quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 100 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Avondale Wealth Management raised its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in Microsoft during the third quarter worth about $62,000. Finally, Fairway Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth about $62,000. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $450.18 on Friday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $402.37 and its 200 day simple moving average is $413.88. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.35 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 1.34. Microsoft Co. has a 1 year low of $344.79 and a 1 year high of $468.35.

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

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

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 issued a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.74%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is presently 25.66%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In related news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $453.77, for a total transaction of $9,756,055.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 134,888 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $61,208,127.76. This trade represents a 13.75% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 75,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $436.05, for a total value of $32,703,750.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 476,999 shares in the company, valued at approximately $207,995,413.95. This trade represents a 13.59% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 131,743 shares of company stock valued at $58,375,673. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MSFT has been the topic of several analyst reports. Guggenheim reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Tigress Financial boosted their price target on Microsoft from $550.00 to $595.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Evercore ISI set a $515.00 price target on Microsoft and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Raymond James boosted 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. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Microsoft presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $513.13.

About Microsoft

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.