ShankerValleau Wealth Advisors Inc. Cuts Stock Holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

ShankerValleau Wealth Advisors Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 31.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,757 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 795 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up approximately 0.2% of ShankerValleau Wealth Advisors Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 19th biggest holding. ShankerValleau Wealth Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $741,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. WFA Asset Management Corp increased its stake in Microsoft by 27.0% during the 1st quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 1,016 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $427,000 after buying an additional 216 shares during the period. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. increased its stake in Microsoft by 0.3% during the 2nd quarter. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. now owns 12,658 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $5,658,000 after buying an additional 38 shares during the period. Nicholas Investment Partners LP increased its stake in Microsoft by 3.0% during the 2nd quarter. Nicholas Investment Partners LP now owns 39,743 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $17,763,000 after buying an additional 1,164 shares during the period. Nottingham Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Microsoft by 56.3% during the 2nd quarter. Nottingham Advisors Inc. now owns 10,242 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $4,578,000 after acquiring an additional 3,690 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hohimer Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Microsoft by 10.5% during the 2nd quarter. Hohimer Wealth Management LLC now owns 72,133 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $32,098,000 after acquiring an additional 6,856 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Price Performance

NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $408.43 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $3.04 trillion, a P/E ratio of 32.88, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.90. Microsoft Co. has a one year low of $385.58 and a one year high of $468.35. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $428.76 and a 200 day moving average price of $422.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 1.34.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 35.43% and a return on equity of 33.36%. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.93 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 13.07 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The company 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. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.81%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. Microsoft’s payout ratio is 26.73%.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $447.41, for a total transaction of $1,118,525.00. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer now owns 49,352 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,080,578.32. This represents a 4.82 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal 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 dated Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $417.00, for a total transaction of $10,425,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 117,294 shares in the company, valued at approximately $48,911,598. This represents a 17.57 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 34,000 shares of company stock valued at $14,333,540. 0.03% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have weighed in on MSFT. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $509.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. TD Cowen decreased their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $495.00 to $475.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Loop Capital raised their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $540.00 to $530.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets decreased their price target on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $495.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Microsoft presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $510.96.

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.