Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Sold by GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC

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

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in MSFT. Net Worth Advisory Group acquired a new position in Microsoft in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $2,645,000. Oak Ridge Investments LLC grew its position in Microsoft by 7.6% in the third quarter. Oak Ridge Investments LLC now owns 263,534 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $113,399,000 after acquiring an additional 18,544 shares in the last quarter. Focus Financial Network Inc. increased its position in Microsoft by 2.0% during the third quarter. Focus Financial Network Inc. now owns 76,296 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $32,830,000 after buying an additional 1,489 shares during the last quarter. Campbell Wealth Management acquired a new position in Microsoft during the third quarter valued at approximately $3,314,000. Finally, Evernest Financial Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Microsoft by 389.2% in the 3rd quarter. Evernest Financial Advisors LLC now owns 53,770 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $23,137,000 after acquiring an additional 42,778 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently commented on MSFT shares. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $550.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Guggenheim reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Friday, January 24th. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Microsoft from $540.00 to $530.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. UBS Group decreased their price target on Microsoft from $525.00 to $510.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Scotiabank began coverage on Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. They issued a “sector outperform” rating and a $470.00 price target on the stock. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $510.59.

Microsoft Price Performance

NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $378.80 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $405.52 and its 200 day simple moving average is $418.97. Microsoft Co. has a 52-week low of $376.91 and a 52-week high of $468.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a current ratio of 1.35. The company has a market cap of $2.82 trillion, a P/E ratio of 30.50, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.92.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The software giant reported $3.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.93 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.88%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is presently 26.73%.

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.