Center for Financial Planning Inc. Has $8.91 Million Holdings in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Center for Financial Planning Inc. trimmed its holdings in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 20.7% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 23,731 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 6,193 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up 1.1% of Center for Financial Planning Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 9th largest position. Center for Financial Planning Inc.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $8,909,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MSFT. Newton One Investments LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 66.7% during the 1st quarter. Newton One Investments LLC now owns 75 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 30 shares during the period. Ball & Co Wealth Management Inc. bought a new stake in Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. LSV Asset Management bought a new stake in Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at $44,000. IFS Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 50.0% in the 1st quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 150 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $57,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the period. Finally, Fairway Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at $62,000. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MSFT has been the subject of a number of research reports. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, June 30th. KeyCorp reissued a “sector weight” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Guggenheim reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, May 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on shares of Microsoft from $480.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $525.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Microsoft presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $555.86.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $453.77, for a total value of $9,756,055.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 134,888 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $61,208,127.76. The trade was a 13.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Judson Althoff sold 16,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $458.18, for a total transaction of $7,330,880.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 98,010 shares in the company, valued at approximately $44,906,221.80. This represents a 14.03% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 135,743 shares of company stock valued at $60,224,683 over the last 90 days. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of MSFT opened at $513.24 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 1.36 and a current ratio of 1.37. Microsoft Corporation has a twelve month low of $344.79 and a twelve month high of $518.29. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $486.89 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $433.33. The firm has a market cap of $3.81 trillion, a P/E ratio of 39.66, a PEG ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 1.04.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $3.65 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.35 by $0.30. The business had revenue of $76.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $73.79 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.79% and a return on equity of 32.74%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.95 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 21st will be given a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.65%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 21st. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is presently 25.66%.

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.