WP Advisors LLC Sells 1,649 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

WP Advisors LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 10.1% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 14,617 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 1,649 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up approximately 2.3% of WP Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 12th largest holding. WP Advisors LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $6,290,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 169.2% in the second quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 70 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 44 shares during the period. Quarry LP purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the second quarter valued at approximately $45,000. Innealta Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the second quarter valued at approximately $75,000. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 10.1% in 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 in the last quarter. Finally, MayTech Global Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the second quarter valued at approximately $200,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MSFT has been the subject of several research reports. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday, October 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on Microsoft from $470.00 to $465.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on Microsoft from $548.00 to $540.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Truist Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $600.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a report on Monday, October 28th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on Microsoft from $475.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-seven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $512.66.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $414.72, for a total value of $414,720.00. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer now owns 57,511 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,850,961.92. The trade was a 1.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 117,294 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $48,911,598. This represents a 17.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 41,200 shares of company stock worth $17,383,892 over the last quarter. 0.03% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of MSFT stock opened at $446.71 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a current ratio of 1.30. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $430.07 and a 200 day moving average price of $425.55. The stock has a market cap of $3.32 trillion, a PE ratio of 36.86, a P/E/G ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.90. Microsoft Co. has a 1 year low of $385.58 and a 1 year high of $468.35.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.10 by $0.20. The company had revenue of $65.59 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $64.57 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 34.56% and a net margin of 35.61%. Microsoft’s revenue was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.99 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 12.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

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 given a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.74%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 27.39%.

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.