Allen Wealth Management LLC Lowers Stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Allen Wealth Management LLC lessened its holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 15.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,938 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 346 shares during the period. Allen Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $817,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Arete Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in Microsoft by 30.3% during the fourth quarter. Arete Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 51,019 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $21,542,000 after acquiring an additional 11,849 shares during the period. Motley Fool Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 13.7% during the fourth quarter. Motley Fool Asset Management LLC now owns 258,985 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $109,162,000 after purchasing an additional 31,270 shares in the last quarter. World Investment Advisors raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 17.1% during the 4th quarter. World Investment Advisors now owns 179,913 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $75,833,000 after purchasing an additional 26,230 shares during the last quarter. Westpac Banking Corp lifted its stake in Microsoft by 4.2% in the 4th quarter. Westpac Banking Corp now owns 249,084 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $104,989,000 after buying an additional 10,097 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nicolet Advisory Services LLC boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Nicolet Advisory Services LLC now owns 47,071 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $19,721,000 after buying an additional 1,109 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Cantor Fitzgerald raised their target price on Microsoft from $502.00 to $512.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Bank of America decreased their price objective on Microsoft from $510.00 to $480.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Westpark Capital reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Microsoft from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. Finally, Scotiabank boosted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $470.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $513.59.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 75,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $436.05, for a total transaction of $32,703,750.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 476,999 shares of the company’s stock, 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 1,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 47,058 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,647,150.58. This trade represents a 2.08% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 135,743 shares of company stock valued at $60,224,683. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Microsoft Trading Up 0.6%

NASDAQ MSFT opened at $470.38 on Monday. Microsoft Co. has a 12 month low of $344.79 and a 12 month high of $473.34. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.50 trillion, a P/E ratio of 37.87, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.03. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $417.20 and its two-hundred day moving average is $416.68. 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 issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 analyst estimates of $68.54 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.94 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter 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 company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be given a dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.71%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is currently 25.66%.

Microsoft 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.