Weik Capital Management Decreases Position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Weik Capital Management cut its stake in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 0.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 51,589 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 275 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up approximately 8.8% of Weik Capital Management’s portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest position. Weik Capital Management’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $21,745,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of MSFT. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at about $38,000. IFS Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Microsoft by 53.8% in the fourth quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 100 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. Avondale Wealth Management lifted its position in shares of 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 worth $62,000. Finally, Sellwood Investment Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter worth $120,000. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently commented on MSFT shares. DA Davidson increased their target price on Microsoft from $450.00 to $500.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $525.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Friday, May 23rd. Evercore ISI set a $515.00 price target on Microsoft and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on Microsoft from $475.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $513.13.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Microsoft news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $460.01, for a total value of $460,010.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 47,058 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,647,150.58. This trade represents a 2.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 6,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 5th. The stock was 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 approximately $204,038,664.12. This trade represents a 1.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 132,743 shares of company stock worth $58,835,683. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Trading Up 0.2%

Shares of Microsoft stock opened at $462.97 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $3.44 trillion, a P/E ratio of 37.28, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.99. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $411.89 and its 200-day simple moving average is $415.62. Microsoft Co. has a 1-year low of $344.79 and a 1-year high of $468.35. 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 (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 EPS 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 analysts’ expectations of $68.54 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 33.36% and a net margin of 35.43%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.94 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

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