Congress Asset Management Co. Sells 2,319 Shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Congress Asset Management Co. cut its holdings in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 0.4% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 659,451 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 2,319 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises 1.9% of Congress Asset Management Co.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd biggest position. Congress Asset Management Co.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $247,551,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of MSFT. Adamsbrown Wealth Consultants LLC boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. Adamsbrown Wealth Consultants LLC now owns 5,967 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $2,515,000 after purchasing an additional 130 shares during the last quarter. Mcdaniel Terry & Co. boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 6.1% in the 4th quarter. Mcdaniel Terry & Co. now owns 315,594 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $133,023,000 after purchasing an additional 18,052 shares during the last quarter. 1900 Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 3.0% in the 4th quarter. 1900 Wealth Management LLC now owns 10,140 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $4,274,000 after purchasing an additional 294 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Financial Services Inc. boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 7.8% in the 4th quarter. Strategic Financial Services Inc. now owns 17,426 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $7,345,000 after purchasing an additional 1,268 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Elevate Wealth Advisory Inc. boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 147.9% in the 4th quarter. Elevate Wealth Advisory Inc. now owns 1,748 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $737,000 after purchasing an additional 1,043 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of MSFT opened at $498.25 on Friday. Microsoft Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $344.79 and a fifty-two week high of $500.76. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $461.41 and its 200 day moving average price is $423.57. The company has a market cap of $3.70 trillion, a P/E ratio of 38.50, a PEG ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 1.04. 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 announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $70.07 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $68.54 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.94 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Shareholders 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 0.67%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 21st. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is presently 25.66%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have weighed in on MSFT shares. Tigress Financial boosted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $550.00 to $595.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $540.00 to $605.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 11th. Guggenheim reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $480.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-nine have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $524.71.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Microsoft news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $463.00, for a total value of $1,389,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 43,930 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,339,590. This represents a 6.39% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $433.17, for a total transaction of $2,599,020.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 471,036 shares in the company, valued at $204,038,664.12. This trade represents a 1.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 135,743 shares of company stock worth $60,224,683. 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.