Howard Bailey Securities LLC Decreases Stake in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Howard Bailey Securities LLC trimmed its holdings in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 4.2% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 7,829 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 347 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises approximately 1.2% of Howard Bailey Securities LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 27th largest holding. Howard Bailey Securities LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $2,939,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Adamsbrown Wealth Consultants LLC raised its holdings in Microsoft by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. Adamsbrown Wealth Consultants LLC now owns 5,967 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $2,515,000 after buying an additional 130 shares during the period. Mcdaniel Terry & Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 6.1% during the fourth quarter. Mcdaniel Terry & Co. now owns 315,594 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $133,023,000 after buying an additional 18,052 shares during the last quarter. 1900 Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 3.0% during the fourth quarter. 1900 Wealth Management LLC now owns 10,140 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $4,274,000 after buying an additional 294 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Financial Services Inc. raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 7.8% in the fourth quarter. Strategic Financial Services Inc. now owns 17,426 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $7,345,000 after purchasing an additional 1,268 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Elevate Wealth Advisory Inc. increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 147.9% during the 4th quarter. Elevate Wealth Advisory Inc. now owns 1,748 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $737,000 after purchasing an additional 1,043 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $463.00, for a total transaction of $1,389,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 43,930 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,339,590. This trade represents a 6.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 135,743 shares of company stock valued at $60,224,683. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of Microsoft stock opened at $510.05 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $477.78 and its 200-day moving average price is $428.54. The company has a current ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. Microsoft Corporation has a 12 month low of $344.79 and a 12 month high of $514.64. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.79 trillion, a PE ratio of 39.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 1.04.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.22 by $0.24. The company had revenue of $70.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $68.54 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 32.74% and a net margin of 35.79%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.94 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 21st will be given a dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 21st. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.65%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 25.66%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have issued reports on MSFT. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and set a $530.00 target price (up from $482.00) on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. KeyCorp restated a “sector weight” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Barclays lifted their price target on Microsoft from $430.00 to $494.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Evercore ISI set a $515.00 price objective on Microsoft and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on Microsoft from $485.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $541.79.

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.