Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC Sells 48,774 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC lowered its stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 40.3% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 72,206 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 48,774 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises about 2.3% of Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 4th largest position. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $30,435,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. WFA Asset Management Corp grew its stake in Microsoft by 27.0% during 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. boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 0.3% during the 2nd 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 last quarter. Alternative Investment Advisors LLC. acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the second quarter worth approximately $4,538,000. Sage Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Microsoft by 46.7% in the second quarter. Sage Advisors LLC now owns 3,948 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $1,765,000 after acquiring an additional 1,256 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ashburton Jersey Ltd bought a new position in Microsoft during the 2nd quarter valued at $27,649,000. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Microsoft Price Performance

MSFT stock opened at $388.70 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $411.64 and a two-hundred day moving average of $420.49. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.89 trillion, a PE ratio of 31.30, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.92. 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 one year low of $376.91 and a one year high of $468.35.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The software giant reported $3.23 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 prior year, the business posted $2.93 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be paid a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.85%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.73%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. Guggenheim reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Friday, January 24th. StockNews.com downgraded Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Microsoft from $540.00 to $530.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on shares of Microsoft from $515.00 to $475.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Finally, UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of Microsoft from $525.00 to $510.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Microsoft currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $510.43.

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.