American Institute for Advanced Investment Management LLP Decreases Stock Position in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)

American Institute for Advanced Investment Management LLP lowered its stake in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 0.7% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 9,484 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 70 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for about 2.6% of American Institute for Advanced Investment Management LLP’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 7th largest position. American Institute for Advanced Investment Management LLP’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $3,560,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Cliftonlarsonallen Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Microsoft by 5.3% during the first quarter. Cliftonlarsonallen Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 38,892 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $14,600,000 after buying an additional 1,974 shares during the period. Dover Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 18.4% during the first quarter. Dover Advisors LLC now owns 38,294 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $14,375,000 after purchasing an additional 5,961 shares during the period. CRA Financial Services LLC boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 1.2% during the first quarter. CRA Financial Services LLC now owns 41,658 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $15,638,000 after purchasing an additional 484 shares during the period. Palouse Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 4.4% during the first quarter. Palouse Capital Management Inc. now owns 11,753 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $4,412,000 after purchasing an additional 490 shares during the period. Finally, IAG Wealth Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 3.3% during the first quarter. IAG Wealth Partners LLC now owns 2,048 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $769,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other Microsoft news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 21st. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at approximately $61,208,127.76. This trade represents a 13.75% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Judson Althoff sold 16,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $458.18, for a total value of $7,330,880.00. Following the sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 135,743 shares of company stock valued at $60,224,683. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of Microsoft stock opened at $511.70 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 1.37 and a quick ratio of 1.36. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $476.35 and its 200-day moving average is $427.88. The firm has a market cap of $3.80 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 1.04. Microsoft Corporation has a one year low of $344.79 and a one year high of $513.37.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 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 company had revenue of $70.07 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $68.54 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.94 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 21st will be paid a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.65%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 21st. Microsoft’s payout ratio is presently 25.66%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently weighed in on MSFT shares. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Microsoft from $540.00 to $605.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 11th. TD Securities upped their target price on Microsoft from $475.00 to $490.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Bank of America dropped their target price on Microsoft from $510.00 to $480.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $530.00 target price (up previously from $482.00) on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. Finally, Evercore ISI set a $515.00 target price on Microsoft and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $538.04.

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.