Wealthquest Corp Reduces Stock Position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Wealthquest Corp cut its holdings in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 1.6% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 11,933 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 196 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up approximately 0.7% of Wealthquest Corp’s portfolio, making the stock its 21st biggest holding. Wealthquest Corp’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $5,334,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. WFA Asset Management Corp boosted its position in Microsoft by 27.0% during the 1st quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 1,016 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $427,000 after purchasing an additional 216 shares during the period. Willis Johnson & Associates Inc. boosted its position in Microsoft by 11.6% during the 1st quarter. Willis Johnson & Associates Inc. now owns 8,673 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $3,649,000 after purchasing an additional 904 shares during the period. Veracity Capital LLC boosted its position in Microsoft by 7.5% during the 1st quarter. Veracity Capital LLC now owns 16,790 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $7,064,000 after purchasing an additional 1,178 shares during the period. GenTrust LLC boosted its position in Microsoft by 28.8% during the 1st quarter. GenTrust LLC now owns 9,209 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $3,874,000 after purchasing an additional 2,061 shares during the period. Finally, Horizon Bancorp Inc. IN boosted its position in Microsoft by 3.1% during the 1st quarter. Horizon Bancorp Inc. IN now owns 3,282 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $1,381,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 40,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $402.59, for a total value of $16,103,600.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 544,847 shares in the company, valued at approximately $219,349,953.73. This represents a 6.84 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Christopher David Young sold 7,200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $423.66, for a total value of $3,050,352.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 103,366 shares in the company, valued at approximately $43,792,039.56. This represents a 6.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 197,829 shares of company stock valued at $80,966,837 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have weighed in on MSFT. BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on Microsoft from $500.00 to $495.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. DA Davidson downgraded Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $475.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. KeyCorp lifted their target price on Microsoft from $490.00 to $505.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. TD Cowen dropped their price objective on Microsoft from $495.00 to $475.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein dropped their price objective on Microsoft from $501.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and twenty-six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $503.03.

Microsoft Stock Performance

MSFT opened at $415.00 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $3.09 trillion, a PE ratio of 34.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 0.91. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $422.08 and a 200-day moving average of $425.44. Microsoft Co. has a 52-week low of $362.90 and a 52-week high of $468.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a current ratio of 1.30.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.10 by $0.20. Microsoft had a return on equity of 34.56% and a net margin of 35.61%. The company had revenue of $65.59 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $64.57 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.99 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 12.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft announced that its board has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Monday, September 16th that authorizes the company to repurchase $60.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the software giant to purchase up to 1.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be issued a $0.83 dividend. This is a boost from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.80%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is 27.39%.

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.