Weitzel Financial Services Inc. Sells 313 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Weitzel Financial Services Inc. lessened its position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 38.6% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 497 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 313 shares during the period. Weitzel Financial Services Inc.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $211,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Friedenthal Financial purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $45,000. Neo Ivy Capital Management purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $58,000. PayPay Securities Corp boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 23.7% during the fourth quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 188 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $71,000 after buying an additional 36 shares during the last quarter. Cooksen Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $86,000. Finally, Kathleen S. Wright Associates Inc. boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 160.7% during the fourth quarter. Kathleen S. Wright Associates Inc. now owns 232 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $87,000 after buying an additional 143 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $425.68, for a total transaction of $10,642,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 104,949 shares in the company, valued at $44,674,690.32. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. In related news, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $425.68, for a total transaction of $10,642,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 104,949 shares in the company, valued at $44,674,690.32. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 244 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $415.53, for a total value of $101,389.32. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer now owns 47,011 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,534,480.83. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 25,566 shares of company stock worth $10,877,535 over the last ninety days. 0.03% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Microsoft Stock Performance

NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $449.78 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a current ratio of 1.24. Microsoft Co. has a 52-week low of $309.45 and a 52-week high of $450.94. The firm has a market cap of $3.34 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.94, a PEG ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 0.89. The business’s fifty day moving average is $419.96 and its 200 day moving average is $407.44.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The software giant reported $2.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.81 by $0.13. Microsoft had a return on equity of 37.54% and a net margin of 36.43%. The company had revenue of $61.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $60.86 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.45 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 11.77 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 15th will be given a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.67%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 15th. Microsoft’s payout ratio is 25.97%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently issued reports on MSFT. Tigress Financial lifted their target price on Microsoft from $475.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 13th. New Street Research began coverage on Microsoft in a research report on Monday, June 10th. They set a “buy” rating and a $570.00 target price on the stock. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Microsoft from $465.00 to $520.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Microsoft from $440.00 to $470.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Finally, Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $465.00 price target (up from $455.00) on shares of Microsoft in a report on Friday, April 26th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-three have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $467.12.

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.