ERTS Wealth Advisors LLC Decreases Stock Holdings in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)

ERTS Wealth Advisors LLC lowered its position in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 4.0% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,503 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 227 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises about 0.4% of ERTS Wealth Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 20th largest position. ERTS Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $2,066,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 684,071,705 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $288,336,224,000 after buying an additional 10,431,988 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Microsoft by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 168,128,024 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $70,720,874,000 after buying an additional 3,103,212 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Microsoft during the fourth quarter valued at $44,343,058,000. Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 16.1% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 83,787,746 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $35,316,535,000 after acquiring an additional 11,600,470 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its stake in Microsoft by 9.8% in the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 59,961,337 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $25,273,704,000 after acquiring an additional 5,370,546 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on MSFT shares. TD Securities lifted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $490.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $480.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $465.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $581.00 price objective (up from $512.00) on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. Finally, DA Davidson increased their price target on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $600.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 2nd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Microsoft presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $555.86.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 6,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $433.17, for a total transaction of $2,599,020.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 471,036 shares in the company, valued at approximately $204,038,664.12. This trade represents a 1.26% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $453.77, for a total value of $9,756,055.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 134,888 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $61,208,127.76. This represents a 13.75% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 135,743 shares of company stock worth $60,224,683 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Price Performance

Microsoft stock opened at $512.50 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $3.81 trillion, a P/E ratio of 39.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 1.36 and a current ratio of 1.37. Microsoft Corporation has a one year low of $344.79 and a one year high of $518.29. The business has a fifty day moving average of $484.59 and a two-hundred day moving average of $432.22.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.22 by $0.24. The business had revenue of $70.07 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $68.54 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 32.74% and a net margin of 35.79%. The business’s revenue was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.94 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 21st will be issued a $0.83 dividend. 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 dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.