Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Stock Position Trimmed by Wells Trecaso Financial Group LLC

Wells Trecaso Financial Group LLC lessened its holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 0.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 48,337 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 183 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for about 7.3% of Wells Trecaso Financial Group LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 2nd biggest position. Wells Trecaso Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $18,176,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Mayfair Advisory Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Mayfair Advisory Group LLC now owns 3,866 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,434,000 after purchasing an additional 27 shares during the period. High Pines Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. High Pines Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,256 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $712,000 after purchasing an additional 28 shares during the period. Sonen Capital LLC increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Sonen Capital LLC now owns 10,132 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $3,199,000 after purchasing an additional 28 shares during the period. Perritt Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 3.3% during the 3rd quarter. Perritt Capital Management Inc. now owns 937 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $296,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the period. Finally, Noble Family Wealth LLC increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Noble Family Wealth LLC now owns 2,331 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $736,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of NASDAQ MSFT opened at $411.84 on Thursday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $415.48 and its 200 day simple moving average is $384.15. Microsoft Co. has a fifty-two week low of $275.37 and a fifty-two week high of $430.82. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.06 trillion, a P/E ratio of 37.24, a P/E/G ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a current ratio of 1.22 and a quick ratio of 1.20.

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

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 16th will be paid a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.73%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 15th. Microsoft’s payout ratio is presently 27.12%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 45,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $411.78, for a total value of $18,530,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 574,129 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $236,414,839.62. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other 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 completion of the sale, the insider now 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 45,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $411.78, for a total transaction of $18,530,100.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 574,129 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $236,414,839.62. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 1,070,258 shares of company stock valued at $30,690,456. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Microsoft from $465.00 to $520.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. KeyCorp assumed coverage on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $490.00 target price on the stock. BNP Paribas raised shares of Microsoft from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $471.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 18th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on shares of Microsoft from $465.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 1st. Finally, Truist Financial reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $600.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Monday, March 25th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-six have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $431.03.

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.