GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC Sells 3,623 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC reduced its stake in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 6.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 55,326 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 3,623 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for about 3.0% of GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 7th largest position. GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $23,320,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. WFA Asset Management Corp lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 27.0% in 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 in the last quarter. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. raised its holdings in Microsoft by 0.3% in the second quarter. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. now owns 12,658 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $5,658,000 after buying an additional 38 shares during the period. AMF Tjanstepension AB lifted its position in Microsoft by 1.8% during the third quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 2,799,261 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $1,204,664,000 after buying an additional 49,735 shares in the last quarter. Hilltop Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in Microsoft by 180.8% during the third quarter. Hilltop Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 5,414 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $2,330,000 after buying an additional 3,486 shares during the period. Finally, Walker Financial Services Inc. increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.9% in the third quarter. Walker Financial Services Inc. now owns 8,347 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $3,592,000 after acquiring an additional 78 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Microsoft Stock Down 3.0 %

MSFT stock opened at $378.80 on Friday. Microsoft Co. has a fifty-two week low of $376.91 and a fifty-two week high of $468.35. The company has a quick ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The stock has a market cap of $2.82 trillion, a PE ratio of 30.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.92. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $405.52 and its 200 day simple moving average is $418.97.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The software giant reported $3.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 business earned $2.93 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be given a dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.88%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 26.73%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently weighed in on MSFT shares. Loop Capital upped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. StockNews.com downgraded Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $509.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $550.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, Mizuho decreased their target price on shares of Microsoft from $510.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Microsoft presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $510.59.

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.