Financial Advisory Partners LLC Lowers Stock Holdings in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Financial Advisory Partners LLC decreased its holdings in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 0.8% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 13,338 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 108 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for about 1.7% of Financial Advisory Partners LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 17th biggest holding. Financial Advisory Partners LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $5,007,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of MSFT. Ball & Co Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth $31,000. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at $38,000. LSV Asset Management acquired a new position in Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at $44,000. IFS Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 50.0% in the first quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 150 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $57,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fairway Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth about $62,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently issued reports on MSFT. Barclays boosted their price target on Microsoft from $430.00 to $494.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Westpark Capital reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Bank of America dropped their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $510.00 to $480.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $540.00 to $605.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 11th. Finally, Mizuho lifted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $500.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $521.14.

Microsoft Stock Up 0.3%

Shares of NASDAQ MSFT opened at $497.41 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $452.23 and its two-hundred day moving average is $422.09. The company has a market capitalization of $3.70 trillion, a PE ratio of 38.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 1.03. Microsoft Corporation has a 12-month low of $344.79 and a 12-month high of $500.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 1.37 and a quick ratio of 1.36.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 firm had revenue of $70.07 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.94 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed 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. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.67%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 21st. Microsoft’s payout ratio is currently 25.66%.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 6,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $433.17, for a total value of $2,599,020.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 471,036 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $204,038,664.12. The trade was a 1.26% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Judson Althoff sold 16,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $458.18, for a total transaction of $7,330,880.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 98,010 shares in the company, valued at $44,906,221.80. This represents a 14.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 135,743 shares of company stock worth $60,224,683 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

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.