Pinkerton Retirement Specialists LLC Trims Stock Holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Pinkerton Retirement Specialists LLC lowered its stake in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 16.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 9,268 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 1,779 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for approximately 0.7% of Pinkerton Retirement Specialists LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 25th largest holding. Pinkerton Retirement Specialists LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $3,485,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in 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. Authentikos Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new position in Microsoft in the 3rd quarter valued at $87,000. Cordant Inc. grew its position in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Family CFO Inc increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 13.6% in the third quarter. Family CFO Inc now owns 359 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $113,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares during the period. Finally, Life Planning Partners Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter worth $146,000. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently commented on MSFT shares. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on Microsoft from $465.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 1st. StockNews.com lowered Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Microsoft from $440.00 to $470.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $465.00 to $489.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Finally, Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $465.00 price target (up previously from $455.00) on shares of Microsoft in a report on Friday, April 26th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-two have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $452.61.

Microsoft Price Performance

MSFT opened at $394.94 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a current ratio of 1.24. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.94 trillion, a PE ratio of 34.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 0.89. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $414.03 and its 200-day moving average price is $389.48. Microsoft Co. has a 52-week low of $303.40 and a 52-week high of $430.82.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The software giant reported $2.94 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.81 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $61.86 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $60.86 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 36.43% and a return on equity of 37.54%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.45 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 11.75 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 13th. Shareholders 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.76%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.97%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other news, major shareholder Corp Microsoft sold 1,000,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 11,677,398 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,770,926.10. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,955 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $403.96, for a total transaction of $8,868,941.80. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 159,764 shares in the company, valued at approximately $64,538,265.44. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, major shareholder Corp Microsoft sold 1,000,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $1.95, for a total transaction of $1,950,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 11,677,398 shares of the company’s stock, 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 currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.