Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Sold by Schaper Benz & Wise Investment Counsel Inc. WI

Schaper Benz & Wise Investment Counsel Inc. WI decreased its holdings in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 1.4% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 44,041 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 640 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for about 1.3% of Schaper Benz & Wise Investment Counsel Inc. WI’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 27th largest position. Schaper Benz & Wise Investment Counsel Inc. WI’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $16,533,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Fosun International Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.3% during the 1st quarter. Fosun International Ltd now owns 6,633 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $2,490,000 after buying an additional 23 shares in the last quarter. Muirfield Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in Microsoft by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Muirfield Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,427 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,866,000 after buying an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. Retirement Financial Solutions LLC increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Retirement Financial Solutions LLC now owns 1,050 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $443,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. Kuhn & Co Investment Counsel increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Kuhn & Co Investment Counsel now owns 3,286 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $1,385,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Alliance Wealth Management Group increased its holdings in Microsoft by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Alliance Wealth Management Group now owns 5,617 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $2,368,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Oppenheimer raised Microsoft from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $600.00 target price for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on Microsoft from $475.00 to $600.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. KeyCorp reiterated a “sector weight” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $581.00 price target (up from $512.00) on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Microsoft currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $543.79.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Microsoft news, EVP Amy Coleman sold 13,243 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $452.01, for a total transaction of $5,985,968.43. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 43,100 shares in the company, valued at $19,481,631. This trade represents a 23.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Judson Althoff sold 16,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $458.18, for a total transaction of $7,330,880.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 98,010 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $44,906,221.80. This represents a 14.03% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 135,743 shares of company stock valued at $60,224,683 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Stock Performance

MSFT opened at $510.06 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization 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 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 $514.64. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $477.78 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $428.61.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its earnings results 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. 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 analyst estimates of $68.54 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.94 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.65%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend 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.