Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Sold by Vanguard Capital Wealth Advisors

Vanguard Capital Wealth Advisors trimmed its stake in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 5.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,071 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 166 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises 1.4% of Vanguard Capital Wealth Advisors’ holdings, making the stock its 13th largest position. Vanguard Capital Wealth Advisors’ holdings in Microsoft were worth $1,294,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of MSFT. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at $38,000. IFS Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Microsoft by 53.8% during the 4th quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 100 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares during the period. LSV Asset Management acquired a new stake in Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at about $44,000. Avondale Wealth Management boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 144.4% in the 4th quarter. Avondale Wealth Management now owns 110 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $46,000 after buying an additional 65 shares during the period. Finally, Fairway Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth about $62,000. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently commented on MSFT shares. Cantor Fitzgerald lifted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $502.00 to $512.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Bank of America cut their price target on Microsoft from $510.00 to $480.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. KeyCorp reaffirmed a “sector weight” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, April 17th. UBS Group reduced their price objective on Microsoft from $510.00 to $480.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Guggenheim restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $515.68.

Microsoft Stock Down 0.2%

MSFT stock opened at $478.04 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $432.29 and a 200-day simple moving average of $419.32. Microsoft Corporation has a 52 week low of $344.79 and a 52 week high of $480.69. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.55 trillion, a P/E ratio of 36.94, a P/E/G ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a quick ratio of 1.36, a current ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12.

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, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.22 by $0.24. The business had revenue of $70.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $68.54 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 32.74% and a net margin of 35.79%. The company’s revenue was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.94 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Microsoft Corporation 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, September 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 21st will be given a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.69%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 21st. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 25.66%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 6,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $433.17, for a total value of $2,599,020.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 471,036 shares in the company, valued at $204,038,664.12. This represents a 1.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Amy Coleman sold 13,243 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $452.01, for a total value of $5,985,968.43. Following the completion of 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 90 days, 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.