Wealth Advisors Northwest LLC Trims Stake in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Wealth Advisors Northwest LLC reduced its position in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 12.9% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,658 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 392 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up 0.6% of Wealth Advisors Northwest LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 26th biggest holding. Wealth Advisors Northwest LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $998,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Ball & Co Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in Microsoft in the fourth quarter worth $31,000. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Microsoft in the fourth quarter worth $38,000. LSV Asset Management purchased a new position in Microsoft in the fourth quarter worth $44,000. IFS Advisors LLC grew 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 acquiring an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fairway Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Microsoft in the fourth quarter worth $62,000. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,500 shares of Microsoft 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 134,888 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $61,208,127.76. The trade was a 13.75% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 6,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on Monday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $433.17, for a total transaction of $2,599,020.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 471,036 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $204,038,664.12. This trade represents a 1.26% 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 ninety days. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MSFT has been the subject of several analyst reports. DA Davidson upped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $600.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Scotiabank upped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $470.00 to $500.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Westpark Capital restated a “hold” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target 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. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $534.14.

Microsoft Stock Up 0.6%

Shares of NASDAQ MSFT opened at $505.82 on Wednesday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $473.43 and a 200-day simple moving average of $426.73. The company has a market capitalization of $3.76 trillion, a P/E ratio of 39.09, a P/E/G ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 1.37 and a quick ratio of 1.36. Microsoft Corporation has a 1 year low of $344.79 and a 1 year high of $508.30.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.22 by $0.24. The firm had revenue of $70.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $68.54 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.79% and a return on equity of 32.74%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $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 declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 21st will be given a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.66%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 21st. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is currently 25.66%.

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.