American Financial Advisors LLC Sells 351 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

American Financial Advisors LLC cut its holdings in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 7.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 4,484 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 351 shares during the period. American Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $1,930,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. WFA Asset Management Corp grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 27.0% during the 1st quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 1,016 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $427,000 after purchasing an additional 216 shares during the period. CGN Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 2.3% in the second quarter. CGN Advisors LLC now owns 24,725 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $11,051,000 after buying an additional 557 shares during the last quarter. MPS Loria Financial Planners LLC increased its holdings in Microsoft by 11.3% during the second quarter. MPS Loria Financial Planners LLC now owns 7,752 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $3,465,000 after buying an additional 788 shares during the last quarter. Mid American Wealth Advisory Group Inc. lifted its position in Microsoft by 47.1% during the second quarter. Mid American Wealth Advisory Group Inc. now owns 846 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $378,000 after purchasing an additional 271 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Gill Capital Partners LLC increased its holdings in Microsoft by 1.1% in the 2nd quarter. Gill Capital Partners LLC now owns 6,941 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $3,102,000 after acquiring an additional 76 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of MSFT stock opened at $430.53 on Friday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $428.90 and its 200-day simple moving average is $428.88. The company has a current ratio of 1.30, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. Microsoft Co. has a 12-month low of $366.50 and a 12-month high of $468.35. The company has a market cap of $3.20 trillion, a PE ratio of 35.52, a PEG ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.90.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.10 by $0.20. The company had revenue of $65.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $64.57 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 34.56% and a net margin of 35.61%. The firm’s revenue was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.99 EPS. Analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 12.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase plan on Monday, September 16th that permits the company to repurchase $60.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the software giant to reacquire up to 1.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 20th will be issued a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.77%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 27.39%.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, EVP Christopher David Young sold 7,200 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $423.66, for a total value of $3,050,352.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 103,366 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $43,792,039.56. The trade was a 6.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $414.72, for a total transaction of $414,720.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer now owns 57,511 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,850,961.92. This trade represents a 1.71 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 41,200 shares of company stock worth $17,383,892. 0.03% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently commented on MSFT shares. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $550.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Wells Fargo & Company restated a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Mizuho increased their price target on Microsoft from $480.00 to $510.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Microsoft from $506.00 to $548.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $525.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $509.90.

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.