Horizon Investment Services LLC Sells 758 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Horizon Investment Services LLC cut its holdings in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 3.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 21,089 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 758 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises 3.8% of Horizon Investment Services LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 5th biggest holding. Horizon Investment Services LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $8,889,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Adamsbrown Wealth Consultants LLC grew its holdings in Microsoft by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. Adamsbrown Wealth Consultants LLC now owns 5,967 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $2,515,000 after buying an additional 130 shares in the last quarter. Mcdaniel Terry & Co. grew its holdings in Microsoft by 6.1% in the 4th quarter. Mcdaniel Terry & Co. now owns 315,594 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $133,023,000 after buying an additional 18,052 shares in the last quarter. Centric Wealth Management grew its holdings in Microsoft by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. Centric Wealth Management now owns 16,156 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $6,789,000 after buying an additional 112 shares in the last quarter. 1900 Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Microsoft by 3.0% in the 4th quarter. 1900 Wealth Management LLC now owns 10,140 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $4,274,000 after buying an additional 294 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Strategic Financial Services Inc. grew its holdings in Microsoft by 7.8% in the 4th quarter. Strategic Financial Services Inc. now owns 17,426 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $7,345,000 after buying an additional 1,268 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MSFT has been the topic of a number of research reports. Raymond James upped their price objective on Microsoft from $480.00 to $490.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $525.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday, May 23rd. UBS Group cut their target price on Microsoft from $510.00 to $480.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, KeyCorp reiterated a “sector weight” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Microsoft has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $513.13.

Microsoft Trading Up 0.2%

Shares of MSFT stock opened at $462.97 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $3.44 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.28, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.99. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $411.89 and a 200-day moving average of $415.62. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. Microsoft Co. has a 1-year low of $344.79 and a 1-year 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. 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 analysts’ expectations of $68.54 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.94 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The company 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 $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.72%. Microsoft’s payout ratio is currently 25.66%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Microsoft news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 75,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $436.05, for a total value of $32,703,750.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 476,999 shares in the company, valued at approximately $207,995,413.95. This represents a 13.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Amy Coleman sold 13,243 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $452.01, for a total value of $5,985,968.43. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 43,100 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,481,631. The trade was a 23.50% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 132,743 shares of company stock worth $58,835,683. Corporate 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.