Litman Gregory Wealth Management LLC Sells 525 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Litman Gregory Wealth Management LLC lowered its holdings in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 1.3% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 39,442 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 525 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises 1.6% of Litman Gregory Wealth Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 15th largest holding. Litman Gregory Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $17,629,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of MSFT. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC boosted its position in Microsoft by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC now owns 37,612 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $14,144,000 after acquiring an additional 620 shares during the last quarter. Rathbones Group PLC lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Rathbones Group PLC now owns 3,027,214 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $1,138,354,000 after purchasing an additional 43,152 shares during the period. California State Teachers Retirement System boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 11,416,509 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $4,293,064,000 after purchasing an additional 104,263 shares in the last quarter. Ratio Wealth Group grew its stake in Microsoft by 4.2% during the fourth quarter. Ratio Wealth Group now owns 3,915 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,472,000 after purchasing an additional 158 shares during the period. Finally, APG Asset Management US Inc. bought a new stake in Microsoft in the fourth quarter worth approximately $132,884,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 78,353 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $408.63, for a total transaction of $32,017,386.39. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 864,327 shares in the company, valued at approximately $353,189,942.01. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 78,353 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $408.63, for a total value of $32,017,386.39. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 864,327 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $353,189,942.01. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Amy Hood sold 38,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $410.55, for a total value of $15,600,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 496,369 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $203,784,292.95. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 190,629 shares of company stock worth $77,916,485. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MSFT has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $550.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Bank of America boosted their target price on Microsoft from $480.00 to $510.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Citigroup cut their price target on Microsoft from $520.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Truist Financial restated a “buy” rating and set a $600.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Argus increased their target price on Microsoft from $475.00 to $526.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $493.94.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $414.71 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.27, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. Microsoft Co. has a twelve month low of $323.18 and a twelve month high of $468.35. The company’s 50 day moving average is $417.97 and its 200 day moving average is $424.89. The company has a market cap of $3.08 trillion, a PE ratio of 35.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 0.90.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $2.95 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.90 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $64.73 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $64.38 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 35.95% and a net margin of 35.96%. The company’s revenue was up 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.69 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 13.04 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft declared that its board has approved a stock repurchase 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 typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 21st will be paid a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. This is a positive change from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.80%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 28.74%.

Microsoft 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.