Sage Financial Group Inc. Decreases Stock Position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Sage Financial Group Inc. trimmed its position in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 28.3% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 632 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 250 shares during the quarter. Sage Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $238,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of MSFT. Monumental Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Microsoft during the first quarter worth approximately $28,000. Atlantic Private Wealth LLC raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 534.5% in the second quarter. Atlantic Private Wealth LLC now owns 184 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $63,000 after buying an additional 155 shares during the last quarter. Infrastructure Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Microsoft during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $601,000. Hibernia Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the third quarter worth $69,000. Finally, Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 89.0% in the third quarter. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC now owns 223 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $70,000 after acquiring an additional 105 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In other news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,955 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $403.96, for a total transaction of $8,868,941.80. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 159,764 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $64,538,265.44. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,955 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $403.96, for a total value of $8,868,941.80. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 159,764 shares in the company, valued at approximately $64,538,265.44. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 3,303 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $406.12, for a total value of $1,341,414.36. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 570,826 shares in the company, valued at $231,823,855.12. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 1,070,258 shares of company stock valued at $30,690,456. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Trading Up 0.4 %

NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $426.28 on Wednesday. Microsoft Co. has a one year low of $275.37 and a one year high of $430.82. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $413.98 and its 200 day simple moving average is $380.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a quick ratio of 1.20 and a current ratio of 1.22. The stock has a market cap of $3.17 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 0.89.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, January 30th. The software giant reported $2.93 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.76 by $0.17. The company had revenue of $62.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $61.14 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 38.40% and a net margin of 36.27%. The business’s revenue was up 17.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.32 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 11.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.70%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 15th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is currently 27.12%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MSFT has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. KeyCorp initiated coverage on Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $490.00 price target on the stock. Barclays upped their price objective on Microsoft from $421.00 to $475.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Wedbush lifted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 22nd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Microsoft from $420.00 to $455.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $425.52.

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.