Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Sold by Avid Wealth Partners LLC

Avid Wealth Partners LLC decreased its holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 15.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,890 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 342 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up 0.6% of Avid Wealth Partners LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 24th biggest position. Avid Wealth Partners LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $813,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. WFA Asset Management Corp raised its stake in Microsoft by 27.0% during the first quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 1,016 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $427,000 after buying an additional 216 shares in the last quarter. ERn Financial LLC raised its stake in Microsoft by 1.5% during the second quarter. ERn Financial LLC now owns 12,435 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $5,558,000 after buying an additional 187 shares in the last quarter. Pure Financial Advisors LLC raised its stake in Microsoft by 2.0% during the second quarter. Pure Financial Advisors LLC now owns 48,098 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $21,498,000 after buying an additional 942 shares in the last quarter. Evolution Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 18.1% during the second quarter. Evolution Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 10,525 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $4,710,000 after purchasing an additional 1,613 shares during the last quarter. Finally, TruNorth Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 13.2% during the second quarter. TruNorth Capital Management LLC now owns 3,002 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $1,342,000 after purchasing an additional 351 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $417.19 on Tuesday. Microsoft Co. has a one year low of $384.81 and a one year high of $468.35. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $429.00 and a 200-day moving average of $426.98. The company has a market capitalization of $3.10 trillion, a PE ratio of 34.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a current ratio of 1.30.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.10 by $0.20. The company had revenue of $65.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $64.57 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 34.56% and a net margin of 35.61%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.99 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 12.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback program on Monday, September 16th that permits the company to buyback $60.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the software giant to purchase up to 1.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be issued a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.80%. Microsoft’s payout ratio is currently 27.39%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $417.00, for a total value of $10,425,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 117,294 shares in the company, valued at $48,911,598. This represents a 17.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $447.41, for a total value of $1,118,525.00. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer now owns 49,352 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,080,578.32. This represents a 4.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 41,200 shares of company stock worth $17,383,892 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MSFT has been the subject of several recent research reports. TD Cowen lowered their target price on Microsoft from $495.00 to $475.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $550.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Citigroup decreased their price objective on Microsoft from $500.00 to $497.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Sanford C. Bernstein decreased their price objective on Microsoft from $501.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Truist Financial reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $600.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a report on Monday, October 28th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $511.62.

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.