Alera Investment Advisors LLC Sells 583 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Alera Investment Advisors LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 3.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 15,490 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 583 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for about 0.8% of Alera Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 22nd largest holding. Alera Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $5,825,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Hibernia Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in Microsoft during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $69,000. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Microsoft by 89.0% during the 3rd quarter. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC now owns 223 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $70,000 after purchasing an additional 105 shares during the last quarter. Authentikos Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new position in Microsoft during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $87,000. Cordant Inc. raised its position in Microsoft by 647.8% during the 4th quarter. Cordant Inc. now owns 344 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $129,000 after purchasing an additional 298 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Family CFO Inc raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 13.6% in the 3rd quarter. Family CFO Inc now owns 359 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $113,000 after acquiring an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Stock Performance

MSFT stock opened at $399.04 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $2.97 trillion, a P/E ratio of 36.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.89. Microsoft Co. has a 1 year low of $292.73 and a 1 year high of $430.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a current ratio of 1.22 and a quick ratio of 1.20. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $414.44 and its 200-day moving average price is $387.17.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 30th. The software giant reported $2.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.76 by $0.17. The firm had revenue of $62.02 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $61.14 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 38.40% and a net margin of 36.27%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.32 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 11.61 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MSFT has been the subject of several research reports. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Microsoft from $465.00 to $520.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Citigroup decreased their target price on Microsoft from $480.00 to $475.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. DA Davidson reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $500.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday, March 15th. BNP Paribas raised Microsoft from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $471.00 target price for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 18th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $455.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Monday. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-five have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $434.05.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, major shareholder Corp Microsoft sold 1,000,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $1.95, for a total value of $1,950,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 11,677,398 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,770,926.10. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 45,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $411.78, for a total value of $18,530,100.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 574,129 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $236,414,839.62. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Corp Microsoft sold 1,000,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $1.95, for a total value of $1,950,000.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 11,677,398 shares in the company, valued at $22,770,926.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 1,070,258 shares of company stock valued at $30,690,456. 0.03% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.