Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Sold by Nova R Wealth Inc.

Nova R Wealth Inc. decreased its holdings in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 7.0% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,810 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 363 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up approximately 1.1% of Nova R Wealth Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 21st biggest position. Nova R Wealth Inc.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $2,024,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MSFT. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 664,908,939 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $250,032,357,000 after purchasing an additional 15,701,937 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its position in Microsoft by 2.7% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 215,874,152 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $68,162,263,000 after buying an additional 5,762,902 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth approximately $35,920,047,000. Barclays PLC lifted its stake in Microsoft by 9.3% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 28,987,007 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $9,152,647,000 after buying an additional 2,456,190 shares during the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $9,625,201,000. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently commented on MSFT shares. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $500.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday, May 22nd. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $465.00 target price (up from $455.00) on shares of Microsoft in a report on Friday, April 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on Microsoft from $450.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $480.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Microsoft from $440.00 to $470.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $467.12.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Microsoft news, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 104,949 shares in the company, valued at approximately $44,674,690.32. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,686,433. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the 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 directly owns 104,949 shares in the company, valued at approximately $44,674,690.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 25,566 shares of company stock worth $10,877,535. 0.03% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Microsoft Stock Performance

NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $446.95 on Friday. Microsoft Co. has a twelve month low of $309.45 and a twelve month high of $456.17. The company has a market capitalization of $3.32 trillion, a P/E ratio of 38.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a current ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $424.11 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $409.90.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The software giant reported $2.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 return on equity of 37.54% and a net margin of 36.43%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 17.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.45 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 11.77 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

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

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.