Sterling Financial Planning Inc. Sells 26 Shares of Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Sterling Financial Planning Inc. cut its holdings in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 0.7% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,688 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 26 shares during the period. Sterling Financial Planning Inc.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $1,385,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Ball & Co Wealth Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. Newton One Investments LLC raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 66.7% during the 1st quarter. Newton One Investments LLC now owns 75 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the period. LSV Asset Management bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the 4th quarter valued at $44,000. Fairway Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the 4th quarter valued at $62,000. Finally, IFS Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 50.0% during the 1st quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 150 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $57,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,850 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $527.32, for a total value of $2,557,502.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 39,111 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,624,012.52. The trade was a 11.03% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $453.77, for a total transaction of $9,756,055.00. Following the completion of the sale, 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. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 30,350 shares of company stock valued at $14,162,567. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Price Performance

Microsoft stock opened at $517.10 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $3.84 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 1.35. Microsoft Corporation has a 1 year low of $344.79 and a 1 year high of $555.45. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $503.49 and a two-hundred day moving average of $441.90.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $3.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.35 by $0.30. The company had revenue of $76.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $73.79 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 36.15% and a return on equity of 32.44%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 18.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.95 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

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 issued a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 21st. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.6%. Microsoft’s payout ratio is currently 24.34%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. Raymond James Financial raised their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $490.00 to $570.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 28th. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $600.00 to $630.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Scotiabank lifted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $650.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $465.00 to $475.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $612.54.

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.