Benchmark Wealth Management LLC Lowers Position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Benchmark Wealth Management LLC decreased its stake in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 2.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 999 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 25 shares during the quarter. Benchmark Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $421,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc raised its stake in Microsoft by 35.7% during the third quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 95 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP purchased a new position in Microsoft during the second quarter valued at $45,000. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in Microsoft during the third quarter valued at $62,000. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in Microsoft by 10.1% during the third quarter. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 338 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $145,000 after buying an additional 31 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MayTech Global Investments LLC purchased a new position in Microsoft during the second quarter valued at $200,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MSFT has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. StockNews.com raised Microsoft from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Sanford C. Bernstein reduced their target price on Microsoft from $501.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 25th. TD Cowen reduced 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 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, Truist Financial reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $600.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Monday, October 28th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Microsoft has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $510.96.

Microsoft Stock Down 0.5 %

Shares of NASDAQ MSFT opened at $408.43 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $3.04 trillion, a PE ratio of 32.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a quick ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. Microsoft Co. has a 52-week low of $385.58 and a 52-week high of $468.35. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $428.76 and a 200 day moving average price of $422.92.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The software giant reported $3.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.15 by $0.08. Microsoft had a return on equity of 33.36% and a net margin of 35.43%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.93 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 13.07 earnings per share for the current year.

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 paid a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.81%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 26.73%.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In related news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $414.72, for a total value of $414,720.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 57,511 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,850,961.92. This trade represents a 1.71 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $417.00, for a total value of $10,425,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 117,294 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $48,911,598. The trade was a 17.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 34,000 shares of company stock valued at $14,333,540. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

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.