Ellenbecker Investment Group Has $3.93 Million Stock Holdings in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Ellenbecker Investment Group trimmed its position in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 2.0% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 10,477 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 210 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up 0.7% of Ellenbecker Investment Group’s holdings, making the stock its 15th biggest holding. Ellenbecker Investment Group’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $3,933,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Ball & Co Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at 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. Fairway Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth $62,000. Finally, 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. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 75,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 476,999 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $207,995,413.95. The trade was a 13.59% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Judson Althoff sold 16,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on Monday, May 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $458.18, for a total value of $7,330,880.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 98,010 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $44,906,221.80. This trade represents a 14.03% 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 quarter. 0.03% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Microsoft Stock Up 0.4%

NASDAQ MSFT opened at $503.32 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $470.64 and its 200-day moving average price is $425.76. 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 Corporation has a 52 week low of $344.79 and a 52 week high of $506.78. The company has a market capitalization of $3.74 trillion, a P/E ratio of 38.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 1.04.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.22 by $0.24. The company had revenue of $70.07 billion for 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 firm’s quarterly revenue was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.94 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

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. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.66%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 21st. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 25.66%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on MSFT shares. Wall Street Zen downgraded Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, June 30th. Evercore ISI set a $515.00 target price on Microsoft and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on Microsoft from $475.00 to $500.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Wedbush raised their price target on Microsoft from $515.00 to $600.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 25th. Finally, UBS Group reaffirmed a “positive” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Monday, June 30th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $534.14.

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.