Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Sold by H&H Retirement Design & Management INC

H&H Retirement Design & Management INC decreased its stake in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 8.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,557 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 239 shares during the quarter. H&H Retirement Design & Management INC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $1,044,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Ball & Co Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth about $38,000. IFS Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 53.8% in the 4th quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 100 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. LSV Asset Management purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at about $44,000. Finally, Fairway Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth approximately $62,000. 71.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Microsoft Stock Up 0.5%

Shares of NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $480.24 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $3.57 trillion, a PE ratio of 37.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $436.07 and a 200 day simple moving average of $420.16. The company has a current ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. Microsoft Corporation has a 12-month low of $344.79 and a 12-month high of $481.00.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.22 by $0.24. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.79% and a return on equity of 32.74%. The company had revenue of $70.07 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $68.54 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.94 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 21st will be given a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 21st. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.69%. Microsoft’s payout ratio is 25.66%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 75,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $436.05, for a total value of $32,703,750.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Amy Coleman sold 13,243 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 43,100 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,481,631. This represents a 23.50% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 135,743 shares of company stock worth $60,224,683. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MSFT has been the topic of a number of research reports. BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $430.00 to $494.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Wall Street Zen downgraded Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, June 14th. Scotiabank raised their price target on shares of Microsoft from $470.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on Microsoft from $475.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $515.68.

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.