Microsoft Corporation $MSFT Stake Lowered by Parr Mcknight Wealth Management Group LLC

Parr Mcknight Wealth Management Group LLC lessened its stake in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 8.2% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 66,899 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 5,964 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for 4.6% of Parr Mcknight Wealth Management Group LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest position. Parr Mcknight Wealth Management Group LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $33,276,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC increased its stake in Microsoft by 51.3% in the 2nd quarter. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC now owns 59 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Bulwark Capital Corp purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft in the second quarter valued at $32,000. Westend Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 386.7% in the second quarter. Westend Capital Management LLC now owns 73 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. LSV Asset Management acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth $44,000. Finally, University of Illinois Foundation purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the 2nd quarter worth about $50,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday, November 19th. Robert W. Baird started coverage on Microsoft in a research report on Friday, November 14th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $600.00 price objective for the company. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Microsoft from $675.00 to $700.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Rothschild & Co Redburn reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $500.00 price target (down previously from $560.00) on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Tuesday, November 18th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Microsoft from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, December 6th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-seven have given a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $632.34.

Microsoft Price Performance

MSFT stock opened at $478.53 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.56 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a quick ratio of 1.39, a current ratio of 1.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. Microsoft Corporation has a 52-week low of $344.79 and a 52-week high of $555.45. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $504.05 and its 200-day simple moving average is $502.34.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The software giant reported $4.13 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.65 by $0.48. Microsoft had a return on equity of 32.45% and a net margin of 35.71%.The firm had revenue of $77.67 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $75.49 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $3.30 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 18.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 19th will be given a $0.91 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 19th. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.8%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 25.89%.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In related news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 2,850 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $478.72, for a total value of $1,364,352.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 55,782 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,703,959.04. The trade was a 4.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 38,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $518.64, for a total transaction of $19,967,640.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 461,597 shares in the company, valued at approximately $239,402,668.08. This represents a 7.70% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last three months, insiders sold 54,100 shares of company stock worth $27,598,872. 0.03% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Microsoft 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.