Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Sold by Wealth Advisors of Tampa Bay LLC

Wealth Advisors of Tampa Bay LLC cut its position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 0.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 20,784 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 89 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for about 3.8% of Wealth Advisors of Tampa Bay LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 4th largest holding. Wealth Advisors of Tampa Bay LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $8,760,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 684,071,705 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $288,336,224,000 after buying an additional 10,431,988 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 168,128,024 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $70,720,874,000 after buying an additional 3,103,212 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth $44,343,058,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Microsoft by 3.9% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 49,052,704 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $20,675,715,000 after acquiring an additional 1,823,579 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 3.7% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 39,829,031 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $16,787,934,000 after acquiring an additional 1,408,374 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently commented on MSFT shares. KeyCorp reissued a “sector weight” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday, June 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on Microsoft from $480.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. TD Securities increased their price target on Microsoft from $475.00 to $490.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Westpark Capital reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $511.57.

Microsoft Trading Down 0.4%

MSFT opened at $470.92 on Wednesday. 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 company has a fifty day moving average price of $420.97 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $417.46. The company has a market cap of $3.50 trillion, a P/E ratio of 37.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.03. Microsoft Co. has a 1-year low of $344.79 and a 1-year high of $473.43.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 EPS 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 the consensus estimate of $68.54 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.94 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 21st will be paid a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.71%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.66%.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In other news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 75,000 shares of Microsoft 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 476,999 shares in the company, valued at $207,995,413.95. This trade represents a 13.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 1,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $460.01, for a total transaction of $460,010.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 47,058 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,647,150.58. This represents a 2.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 135,743 shares of company stock valued at $60,224,683. 0.03% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.