Wealthquest Corp Sells 224 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Wealthquest Corp reduced its position in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 1.9% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 11,709 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 224 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for 0.4% of Wealthquest Corp’s holdings, making the stock its 23rd biggest holding. Wealthquest Corp’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $4,926,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in Microsoft by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC now owns 11,184 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $4,821,000 after purchasing an additional 255 shares in the last quarter. Aldebaran Financial Inc. increased its stake in Microsoft by 5.8% during the 3rd quarter. Aldebaran Financial Inc. now owns 7,663 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $3,298,000 after purchasing an additional 423 shares in the last quarter. Morse Asset Management Inc grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 42.4% in the third quarter. Morse Asset Management Inc now owns 67,404 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $29,004,000 after acquiring an additional 20,061 shares during the period. Passumpsic Savings Bank grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 69.0% in the third quarter. Passumpsic Savings Bank now owns 2,832 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,219,000 after acquiring an additional 1,156 shares during the period. Finally, McIlrath & Eck LLC grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 18.3% in the third quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 124,788 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $53,696,000 after acquiring an additional 19,302 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 1,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief marketing officer now owns 56,511 shares in the company, valued at $23,931,278.28. This trade represents a 1.74 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were 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 owns 117,294 shares in the company, valued at approximately $48,911,598. The trade was a 17.57 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 34,000 shares of company stock worth $14,333,540 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently commented on the stock. Guggenheim reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Friday, January 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Microsoft from $470.00 to $465.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Sanford C. Bernstein reduced their price target on shares of Microsoft from $501.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 25th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Microsoft from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, DA Davidson reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $425.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $510.96.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $410.54 on Friday. 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 Co. has a 1-year low of $385.58 and a 1-year high of $468.35. The company has a market capitalization of $3.05 trillion, a P/E ratio of 33.05, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.90. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $430.11 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $423.13.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued 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 company earned $2.93 EPS. Research analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 13.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be given a dividend of $0.83 per share. 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 currently 26.73%.

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.