Martel Wealth Advisors Inc Decreases Stake in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Martel Wealth Advisors Inc lowered its stake in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 1.4% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,049 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 30 shares during the period. Martel Wealth Advisors Inc’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $769,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Ball & Co Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Microsoft during the fourth quarter valued at $31,000. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Microsoft during the fourth quarter valued at $38,000. LSV Asset Management acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at about $44,000. IFS Advisors LLC grew its position 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 purchasing an additional 50 shares during the period. Finally, Fairway Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at about $62,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Westpark Capital reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $500.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $480.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $430.00 to $494.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $485.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $534.14.

Microsoft Trading Up 0.6%

NASDAQ MSFT opened at $505.82 on Wednesday. Microsoft Corporation has a 52 week low of $344.79 and a 52 week high of $508.30. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $473.43 and a two-hundred day moving average of $426.73. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $3.76 trillion, a PE ratio of 39.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 1.04.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.22 by $0.24. The company 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%. Microsoft’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.94 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Shareholders 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 yield of 0.66%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 21st. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 25.66%.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In other news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $453.77, for a total value of $9,756,055.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 134,888 shares in the company, valued at approximately $61,208,127.76. This represents a 13.75% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Judson Althoff sold 16,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $458.18, for a total transaction of $7,330,880.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 98,010 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $44,906,221.80. The trade was a 14.03% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 135,743 shares of company stock worth $60,224,683 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

About Microsoft

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.