Cascade Investment Advisors Inc. Sells 116 Shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Cascade Investment Advisors Inc. lessened its holdings in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 1.1% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 10,415 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 116 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up about 2.6% of Cascade Investment Advisors Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest holding. Cascade Investment Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $3,910,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Ball & Co Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft during the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft during the 4th quarter valued at about $38,000. IFS Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 53.8% during the 4th quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 100 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. LSV Asset Management acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft during the 4th quarter valued at about $44,000. Finally, Fairway Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft during the 4th quarter valued at about $62,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Microsoft from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, June 22nd. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $530.00 price target (up previously from $482.00) on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Tigress Financial boosted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $550.00 to $595.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $521.14.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $463.00, for a total transaction of $1,389,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 43,930 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,339,590. This represents a 6.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 75,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 2nd. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at $207,995,413.95. The trade was a 13.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 135,743 shares of company stock worth $60,224,683. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Stock Up 1.1%

MSFT stock opened at $497.45 on Friday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $446.90 and its 200 day moving average price is $421.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 1.36 and a current ratio of 1.37. Microsoft Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $344.79 and a fifty-two week high of $498.04. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.70 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.44, a PEG ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 1.03.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.22 by $0.24. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.79% and a return on equity of 32.74%. 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 firm earned $2.94 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. 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. Investors of record on Thursday, August 21st will be paid a dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 21st. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.67%. Microsoft’s payout ratio is 25.66%.

Microsoft Company 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.