Vanguard Capital Wealth Advisors Sells 84 Shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Vanguard Capital Wealth Advisors cut its holdings in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 2.7% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,987 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 84 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up approximately 1.4% of Vanguard Capital Wealth Advisors’ portfolio, making the stock its 13th biggest position. Vanguard Capital Wealth Advisors’ holdings in Microsoft were worth $1,121,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Ball & Co Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth approximately $31,000. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth approximately $38,000. LSV Asset Management acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth approximately $44,000. IFS Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Microsoft by 50.0% during the first quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 150 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $57,000 after buying an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fairway Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth $62,000. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MSFT has been the subject of several recent research reports. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Raymond James Financial upped their price objective on Microsoft from $480.00 to $490.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $530.00 price target (up previously from $482.00) on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, June 26th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “positive” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Monday, June 30th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on Microsoft from $480.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. 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 currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $524.71.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of MSFT opened at $498.25 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $3.70 trillion, a PE ratio of 38.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a current ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $461.41 and a 200-day moving average price of $423.57. Microsoft Corporation has a 12-month low of $344.79 and a 12-month high of $500.76.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 revenue for the quarter was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.94 EPS. As a group, equities 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. Investors of record on Thursday, August 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date 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 25.66%.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In related news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $453.77, for a total transaction of $9,756,055.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 134,888 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $61,208,127.76. This trade represents a 13.75% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Amy Coleman sold 13,243 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 43,100 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,481,631. This represents a 23.50% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 135,743 shares of company stock worth $60,224,683 in the last quarter. 0.03% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.