Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Sold by Wallace Advisory Group LLC

Wallace Advisory Group LLC lowered its stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 5.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 7,001 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 440 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises about 2.1% of Wallace Advisory Group LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 7th biggest holding. Wallace Advisory Group LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $3,012,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of MSFT. WFA Asset Management Corp raised its position in Microsoft by 27.0% in the first quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 1,016 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $427,000 after acquiring an additional 216 shares in the last quarter. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. raised its position in Microsoft by 0.3% in the second quarter. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. now owns 12,658 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $5,658,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Nicholas Investment Partners LP raised its position in Microsoft by 3.0% in the second quarter. Nicholas Investment Partners LP now owns 39,743 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $17,763,000 after acquiring an additional 1,164 shares in the last quarter. Welch Capital Partners LLC NY raised its position in Microsoft by 51.2% in the second quarter. Welch Capital Partners LLC NY now owns 3,137 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,402,000 after acquiring an additional 1,062 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cowen AND Company LLC raised its position in Microsoft by 836.5% in the second quarter. Cowen AND Company LLC now owns 46,617 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $20,835,000 after acquiring an additional 41,639 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MSFT has been the topic of several research reports. Guggenheim reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday, January 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Microsoft from $470.00 to $465.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $509.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and set a $550.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, Loop Capital boosted their price objective on Microsoft from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $510.96.

Insider Activity

In related news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $423.48, for a total transaction of $423,480.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 56,511 shares in the company, valued at $23,931,278.28. The trade was a 1.74 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders have sold 8,000 shares of company stock valued at $3,493,820 over the last ninety days. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Microsoft Stock Down 1.9 %

Shares of NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $408.25 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. Microsoft Co. has a 12 month low of $385.58 and a 12 month high of $468.35. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $425.20 and a 200 day moving average price of $422.88. The company has a market cap of $3.03 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.87, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.90.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The software giant reported $3.23 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.93 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be issued a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.81%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is currently 26.73%.

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.