Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Sold by Financial Perspectives Inc

Financial Perspectives Inc cut its holdings in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 1.3% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 33,110 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 427 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for about 4.3% of Financial Perspectives Inc’s portfolio, making the stock its 6th largest holding. Financial Perspectives Inc’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $12,432,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in MSFT. Adamsbrown Wealth Consultants LLC boosted its stake 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 purchasing an additional 130 shares during the last quarter. Mcdaniel Terry & Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 6.1% in the fourth quarter. Mcdaniel Terry & Co. now owns 315,594 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $133,023,000 after acquiring an additional 18,052 shares during the period. 1900 Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 3.0% in the fourth quarter. 1900 Wealth Management LLC now owns 10,140 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $4,274,000 after acquiring an additional 294 shares during the period. Strategic Financial Services Inc. raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 7.8% during the fourth quarter. Strategic Financial Services Inc. now owns 17,426 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $7,345,000 after purchasing an additional 1,268 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Elevate Wealth Advisory Inc. raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 147.9% during the fourth 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 during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Microsoft Stock Up 0.1%

NASDAQ MSFT opened at $505.87 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $3.76 trillion, a PE ratio of 39.09, 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 $514.64. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $481.17 and its 200 day simple moving average is $430.27. 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 (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 earnings per share 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $68.54 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.94 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 21st will be issued a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 21st. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.66%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is presently 25.66%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 6,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Amy Coleman sold 13,243 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 15th. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,481,631. The trade was a 23.50% 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 in the last ninety days. 0.03% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently commented on MSFT shares. Westpark Capital reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on Microsoft from $475.00 to $500.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Wedbush lifted their price objective on Microsoft from $515.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 25th. Bank of America boosted their price objective on Microsoft from $515.00 to $585.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 18th. Finally, Raymond James Financial boosted their price target on Microsoft from $480.00 to $490.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Microsoft has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $548.36.

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.