Investment Partners Asset Management Inc. Reduces Stock Holdings in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Investment Partners Asset Management Inc. decreased its position in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 1.2% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 12,595 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 150 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up approximately 3.7% of Investment Partners Asset Management Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 3rd biggest position. Investment Partners Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $4,728,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Ball & Co Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Microsoft during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $38,000. LSV Asset Management bought a new position in shares of Microsoft during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $44,000. IFS Advisors LLC lifted its position in Microsoft by 50.0% in 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Fairway Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Microsoft in the fourth quarter worth $62,000. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Trading Up 0.4%

Shares of Microsoft stock opened at $503.32 on Friday. Microsoft Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $344.79 and a fifty-two week high of $506.78. The firm has a market cap of $3.74 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.28 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. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $470.64 and a 200-day simple moving average of $425.76.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced 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. Microsoft had a return on equity of 32.74% and a net margin of 35.79%. The firm had revenue of $70.07 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $68.54 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.94 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.83 per share. 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 is 25.66%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently commented on MSFT. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on Microsoft from $475.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Wall Street Zen downgraded Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, June 30th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Barclays lifted their target price on Microsoft from $430.00 to $494.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Oppenheimer upgraded Microsoft from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $600.00 price target for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Microsoft has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $534.14.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $453.77, for a total value of $9,756,055.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 134,888 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $61,208,127.76. This trade represents a 13.75% decrease in their position. 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 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 43,930 shares in the company, valued at $20,339,590. This trade represents a 6.39% decrease in their position. 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 90 days. Company 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.