Broadleaf Partners LLC Cuts Holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Broadleaf Partners LLC lowered its holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 1.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 63,139 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 830 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for about 6.2% of Broadleaf Partners LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest position. Broadleaf Partners LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $26,613,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Adamsbrown Wealth Consultants LLC lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. Adamsbrown Wealth Consultants LLC now owns 5,967 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $2,515,000 after buying an additional 130 shares during the period. Mcdaniel Terry & Co. grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 6.1% during the fourth quarter. Mcdaniel Terry & Co. now owns 315,594 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $133,023,000 after purchasing an additional 18,052 shares during the period. 1900 Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Microsoft by 3.0% in the fourth quarter. 1900 Wealth Management LLC now owns 10,140 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $4,274,000 after acquiring an additional 294 shares during the period. Strategic Financial Services Inc. grew its stake in Microsoft by 7.8% in the fourth quarter. Strategic Financial Services Inc. now owns 17,426 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $7,345,000 after acquiring an additional 1,268 shares during the period. Finally, Elevate Wealth Advisory Inc. boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 147.9% during the fourth quarter. Elevate Wealth Advisory Inc. now owns 1,748 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $737,000 after buying an additional 1,043 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, 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 directly owns 47,058 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,647,150.58. This trade represents a 2.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Amy Coleman sold 13,243 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $452.01, for a total transaction of $5,985,968.43. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 43,100 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,481,631. The trade was a 23.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 135,743 shares of company stock valued at $60,224,683. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently commented on the company. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Barclays lifted their price target on Microsoft from $430.00 to $494.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Guggenheim reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $525.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Friday, May 23rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday, June 4th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $515.68.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ MSFT opened at $474.96 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $428.05 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $418.65. Microsoft Co. has a 1-year low of $344.79 and a 1-year high of $480.42. The firm has a market cap of $3.53 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.03. 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 (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $70.07 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $68.54 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.94 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 21st will be paid a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 21st. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.70%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.