BlueChip Wealth Advisors LLC Sells 212 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

BlueChip Wealth Advisors LLC cut its holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 4.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,757 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 212 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for 1.1% of BlueChip Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 22nd biggest holding. BlueChip Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $2,005,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Muirfield Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in Microsoft by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Muirfield Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,427 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,866,000 after buying an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. Retirement Financial Solutions LLC grew its stake in Microsoft by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Retirement Financial Solutions LLC now owns 1,050 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $443,000 after buying an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. Boulder Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in Microsoft by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Boulder Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,569 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,106,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Sterling Group Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Microsoft by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Sterling Group Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,540 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $2,335,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kuhn & Co Investment Counsel grew its stake in Microsoft by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Kuhn & Co Investment Counsel now owns 3,286 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,385,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Microsoft Stock Up 0.2%

NASDAQ MSFT opened at $463.87 on Thursday. 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. The company has a 50 day moving average of $413.59 and a 200-day moving average of $415.95. The company has a market cap of $3.45 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.35, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.03.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its quarterly 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 company had revenue of $70.07 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $68.54 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.43% and a return on equity of 33.36%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.94 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be paid 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 dividend yield of 0.72%. Microsoft’s payout ratio is presently 25.66%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on MSFT shares. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on Microsoft from $480.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on Microsoft from $475.00 to $500.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Evercore ISI set a $515.00 target price on Microsoft and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Finally, Benchmark reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $513.13.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 3,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $463.00, for a total transaction of $1,389,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 43,930 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,339,590. The trade was a 6.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 75,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on Friday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $436.05, for a total transaction 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 trade represents a 13.59% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 135,743 shares of company stock valued at $60,224,683. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.