Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Sold by Sound Stewardship LLC

Sound Stewardship LLC lowered its stake in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 7.1% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,393 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 182 shares during the period. Sound Stewardship LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $898,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Ball & Co Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Microsoft in the 4th quarter worth about $31,000. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Microsoft in the 4th quarter worth about $38,000. LSV Asset Management purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft in the 4th quarter worth about $44,000. Fairway Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft in the 4th quarter worth about $62,000. Finally, IFS Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 50.0% in the 1st quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 150 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $57,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Oppenheimer upgraded Microsoft from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $600.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Cantor Fitzgerald raised their price objective on Microsoft from $502.00 to $512.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. DA Davidson raised their price objective on Microsoft from $500.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $530.00 price objective (up from $482.00) on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, June 26th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $534.14.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ MSFT opened at $505.82 on Wednesday. Microsoft Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $344.79 and a fifty-two week high of $508.30. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $473.43 and a two-hundred day moving average price 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 firm has a market cap 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 issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 earnings per share 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 analyst estimates of $68.54 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 32.74% and a net margin of 35.79%. Microsoft’s quarterly revenue was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.94 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 21st will be given a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 21st. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.66%. Microsoft’s payout ratio is 25.66%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 3,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $463.00, for a total value of $1,389,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 43,930 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,339,590. This trade represents a 6.39% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Amy Coleman sold 13,243 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $452.01, for a total value of $5,985,968.43. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 43,100 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,481,631. The trade was a 23.50% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 135,743 shares of company stock worth $60,224,683. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by 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.