Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Sold by Providence Wealth Advisors LLC

Providence Wealth Advisors LLC decreased its holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 4.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 20,907 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 1,014 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for approximately 6.9% of Providence Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 3rd largest position. Providence Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $8,922,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Blair William & Co. IL raised its holdings in Microsoft by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 3,811,770 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,606,661,000 after purchasing an additional 43,033 shares in the last quarter. LM Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. LM Advisors LLC now owns 36,704 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $15,471,000 after purchasing an additional 217 shares during the period. Pragma Gestao DE Patrimonio Ltd. increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 50.0% during the 4th quarter. Pragma Gestao DE Patrimonio Ltd. now owns 51,000 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $21,496,000 after purchasing an additional 17,000 shares during the period. Homestead Advisers Corp raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 3.9% in the 4th quarter. Homestead Advisers Corp now owns 236,787 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $99,806,000 after buying an additional 8,800 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Howe & Rusling Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 2.9% in the fourth quarter. Howe & Rusling Inc. now owns 79,642 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $33,569,000 after buying an additional 2,232 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $460.01, for a total transaction of $460,010.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 47,058 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,647,150.58. This represents a 2.08% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 6,000 shares of the firm’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 completion of the transaction, the insider now 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. Insiders sold 132,743 shares of company stock valued at $58,835,683 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have commented on MSFT. Cantor Fitzgerald boosted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $502.00 to $512.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Guggenheim reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. KeyCorp reaffirmed a “sector weight” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Evercore ISI set a $515.00 price objective on Microsoft and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $513.13.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $461.97 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $3.43 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.20, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.99. Microsoft Co. has a 1 year low of $344.79 and a 1 year high of $468.35. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $410.44 and a 200 day simple moving average of $415.29.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.22 by $0.24. The company had revenue of $70.07 billion during 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 business’s quarterly revenue was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.94 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict 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 given a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.72%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is 25.66%.

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.