Independent Wealth Network Inc. Decreases Stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Independent Wealth Network Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 82.2% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,708 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 7,870 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up about 1.9% of Independent Wealth Network Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 13th biggest position. Independent Wealth Network Inc.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $719,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MSFT. Buck Wealth Strategies LLC increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. Buck Wealth Strategies LLC now owns 18,331 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $5,788,000 after acquiring an additional 357 shares during the period. Sterling Investment Advisors Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Sterling Investment Advisors Ltd. now owns 21,599 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $6,820,000 after acquiring an additional 167 shares during the period. Sfmg LLC increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. Sfmg LLC now owns 67,677 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $21,369,000 after acquiring an additional 773 shares during the period. Widmann Financial Services Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Widmann Financial Services Inc. now owns 17,041 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $5,381,000 after acquiring an additional 49 shares during the period. Finally, Hudock Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Hudock Inc. now owns 12,556 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $3,965,000 after acquiring an additional 66 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Stock Up 0.3 %

MSFT opened at $452.16 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $421.37 and a 200 day moving average price of $408.52. The company has a market cap of $3.36 trillion, a PE ratio of 39.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 0.89. Microsoft Co. has a 1 year low of $309.45 and a 1 year high of $453.60. 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 (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The software giant reported $2.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.81 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $61.86 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $60.86 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 36.43% and a return on equity of 37.54%. The company’s revenue was up 17.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.45 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 11.77 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 15th will be issued a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.66%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 15th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is presently 25.97%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MSFT has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Macquarie lifted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $460.00 to $475.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, May 17th. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $485.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Raymond James reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $480.00 price objective (up from $450.00) on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Friday, April 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective 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. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $495.00 to $520.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, June 21st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Microsoft presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $467.12.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 244 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $415.53, for a total transaction of $101,389.32. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 47,011 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,534,480.83. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 244 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $415.53, for a total transaction of $101,389.32. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 47,011 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,534,480.83. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 23rd. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at $44,674,690.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 25,566 shares of company stock worth $10,877,535 in the last 90 days. 0.03% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.