Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) is ProVise Management Group LLC’s 2nd Largest Position

ProVise Management Group LLC trimmed its holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 3.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 88,106 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 3,295 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up 3.2% of ProVise Management Group LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest holding. ProVise Management Group LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $37,137,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth $38,000. IFS Advisors LLC boosted its stake 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 boosted its stake 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. Fairway Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $62,000. Finally, Kieckhefer Group LLC bought a new position in Microsoft during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $141,000. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MSFT has been the topic of several recent research reports. DA Davidson increased their price target on shares of Microsoft from $450.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. KeyCorp reiterated a “sector weight” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, April 17th. BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $472.00 to $482.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $513.13.

Microsoft Trading Down 1.0%

NASDAQ MSFT opened at $450.18 on Monday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $402.37 and its two-hundred day moving average is $413.85. 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 12 month low of $344.79 and a 12 month high of $468.35. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.35 trillion, a P/E ratio of 36.25, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.99.

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 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 firm had revenue of $70.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $68.54 billion. During the same quarter 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, sell-side analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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 0.74%. Microsoft’s payout ratio is currently 25.66%.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In other news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 6,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $433.17, for a total transaction of $2,599,020.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 471,036 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $204,038,664.12. This represents a 1.26% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 134,888 shares in the company, valued at $61,208,127.76. This represents a 13.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 131,743 shares of company stock worth $58,375,673. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

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.