Ironwood Investment Counsel LLC Trims Stock Holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Ironwood Investment Counsel LLC reduced its holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 2.4% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 92,001 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 2,289 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises approximately 6.8% of Ironwood Investment Counsel LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its largest holding. Ironwood Investment Counsel LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $38,707,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of MSFT. Friedenthal Financial bought a new stake in Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at about $45,000. Neo Ivy Capital Management bought a new stake in Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at about $58,000. Richardson Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Microsoft by 1,290.0% in the 1st quarter. Richardson Capital Management LLC now owns 139 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $59,000 after purchasing an additional 129 shares during the last quarter. PayPay Securities Corp lifted its position in Microsoft by 23.7% in the 4th quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 188 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $71,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Horizon Financial Services LLC bought a new stake in Microsoft in the 1st quarter valued at about $80,000. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Microsoft news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 322 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $416.60, for a total value of $134,145.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 47,255 shares in the company, valued at $19,686,433. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $425.68, for a total value of $10,642,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 104,949 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $44,674,690.32. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 322 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $416.60, for a total transaction of $134,145.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 47,255 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,686,433. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 25,566 shares of company stock worth $10,877,535. 0.03% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have commented on MSFT shares. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $550.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Truist Financial reissued a “buy” rating and set a $600.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Monday, June 17th. New Street Research started coverage on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Monday, June 10th. They set a “buy” rating and a $570.00 target price on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $500.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reissued a “buy” rating and set a $455.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $494.72.

Microsoft Stock Performance

MSFT stock opened at $414.01 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a current ratio of 1.27. The stock has a market cap of $3.08 trillion, a P/E ratio of 35.85, a P/E/G ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.90. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $437.04 and a 200 day simple moving average of $422.15. Microsoft Co. has a 52 week low of $309.45 and a 52 week high of $468.35.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $2.95 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.90 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $64.73 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $64.38 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.96% and a return on equity of 35.95%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.69 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 13.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.72%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 15th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is currently 25.97%.

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.