Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Sold by Copia Wealth Management

Copia Wealth Management cut its holdings in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 3.5% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,056 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 75 shares during the period. Copia Wealth Management’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $772,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Grove Bank & Trust increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 8.0% during the first quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 38,214 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $14,345,000 after acquiring an additional 2,826 shares during the period. Fogel Capital Management Inc. grew its position in Microsoft by 0.6% during the 1st quarter. Fogel Capital Management Inc. now owns 71,588 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $26,873,000 after purchasing an additional 441 shares in the last quarter. Community Trust & Investment Co. grew its position in Microsoft by 0.8% during the 1st quarter. Community Trust & Investment Co. now owns 237,568 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $89,181,000 after purchasing an additional 1,807 shares in the last quarter. Stockman Wealth Management Inc. grew its position in Microsoft by 4.3% during the 1st quarter. Stockman Wealth Management Inc. now owns 52,730 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $19,794,000 after purchasing an additional 2,153 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Claris Advisors LLC MO grew its position in Microsoft by 31.0% during the 1st quarter. Claris Advisors LLC MO now owns 7,048 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $2,646,000 after purchasing an additional 1,666 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MSFT has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Microsoft from $565.00 to $585.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 25th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $515.00 to $585.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $540.00 to $605.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 11th. Finally, Mizuho lifted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $540.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $543.79.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 6,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on Monday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $433.17, for a total transaction of $2,599,020.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 471,036 shares in the company, valued at approximately $204,038,664.12. The trade was a 1.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,500 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the executive vice president owned 134,888 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $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. Insiders sold a total of 135,743 shares of company stock worth $60,224,683 over the last three months. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ MSFT opened at $510.06 on Tuesday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $477.78 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $428.61. Microsoft Corporation has a 1-year low of $344.79 and a 1-year high of $514.64. The firm has a market cap of $3.79 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 1.04. 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 (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.22 by $0.24. The firm had revenue of $70.07 billion for 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 company’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.94 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The firm 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 dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.65%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 21st. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is 25.66%.

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.