Bennett Associates Wealth Management Sells 286 Shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Bennett Associates Wealth Management lowered its stake in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 12.2% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,052 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 286 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up 0.6% of Bennett Associates Wealth Management’s portfolio, making the stock its 21st biggest position. Bennett Associates Wealth Management’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $770,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. WFA Asset Management Corp raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 27.0% during the first quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 1,016 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $427,000 after purchasing an additional 216 shares during the period. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.3% during the 2nd quarter. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. now owns 12,658 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $5,658,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Discipline Wealth Solutions LLC increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 410.4% during the 3rd quarter. Discipline Wealth Solutions LLC now owns 2,659 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,144,000 after purchasing an additional 2,138 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Group Ltd. increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Wealth Group Ltd. now owns 2,374 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,000,000 after purchasing an additional 28 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tallon Kerry Patrick acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,375,000. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Stock Down 0.3%

Shares of Microsoft stock opened at $495.94 on Friday. Microsoft Corporation has a one year low of $344.79 and a one year high of $499.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 1.37 and a quick ratio of 1.36. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $449.47 and its 200 day moving average is $421.93. The firm has a market cap of $3.69 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.33, a PEG ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 1.03.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its quarterly 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. The business had revenue of $70.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $68.54 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 32.74% and a net margin of 35.79%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.94 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 21st will be issued 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 dividend yield of 0.67%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is presently 25.66%.

Insider Activity

In other Microsoft news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 75,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $436.05, for a total value of $32,703,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 476,999 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $207,995,413.95. This trade represents a 13.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $463.00, for a total value of $1,389,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 43,930 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,339,590. This represents a 6.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 135,743 shares of company stock worth $60,224,683 over the last 90 days. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently commented on MSFT shares. Tigress Financial lifted their target price on Microsoft from $550.00 to $595.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Microsoft from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, June 22nd. Wedbush upped their target price on Microsoft from $515.00 to $600.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Cantor Fitzgerald upped their price objective on Microsoft from $502.00 to $512.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Westpark Capital restated a “hold” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $521.14.

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.