Caerus Investment Advisors LLC Sells 1,705 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Caerus Investment Advisors LLC lowered its holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 39.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,564 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 1,705 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up about 0.9% of Caerus Investment Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 16th largest holding. Caerus Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $964,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Monumental Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the 1st quarter worth approximately $28,000. Atlantic Private Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 534.5% during the 2nd quarter. Atlantic Private Wealth LLC now owns 184 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $63,000 after acquiring an additional 155 shares during the period. Hibernia Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $69,000. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 89.0% during the 3rd quarter. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC now owns 223 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $70,000 after acquiring an additional 105 shares during the period. Finally, MayTech Global Investments LLC bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth approximately $83,000. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $465.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 1st. Truist Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $600.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Monday, March 25th. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Microsoft from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $471.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 18th. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $455.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, January 25th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $455.00 to $465.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 12th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $430.52.

Microsoft Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ MSFT opened at $414.58 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $3.08 trillion, a PE ratio of 37.48, a P/E/G ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 0.89. Microsoft Co. has a 12-month low of $275.37 and a 12-month high of $430.82. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $415.53 and its 200 day simple moving average is $383.95. The company has a quick ratio of 1.20, a current ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19.

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

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

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 paid a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.72%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 15th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is presently 27.12%.

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.