Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Sold by SMART Wealth LLC

SMART Wealth LLC reduced its stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 6.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,267 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 227 shares during the quarter. SMART Wealth LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $1,377,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. lifted its position in Microsoft by 13.7% during the 4th quarter. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. now owns 82,451 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $34,753,000 after acquiring an additional 9,924 shares during the period. Beese Fulmer Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Beese Fulmer Investment Management Inc. now owns 132,356 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $55,788,000 after purchasing an additional 339 shares during the period. Fairvoy Private Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter worth about $7,798,000. Keystone Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth about $377,000. Finally, William Allan Corp boosted its position in Microsoft by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. William Allan Corp now owns 13,177 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $5,554,000 after buying an additional 150 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Guggenheim reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday, January 24th. UBS Group reduced their target price on shares of Microsoft from $525.00 to $510.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their target price on shares of Microsoft from $550.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 31st. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $509.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, Tigress Financial boosted their price objective on Microsoft from $550.00 to $595.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $508.86.

Microsoft Trading Down 3.6 %

MSFT stock opened at $359.84 on Friday. Microsoft Co. has a 12-month low of $359.48 and a 12-month high of $468.35. The business’s 50-day moving average is $399.08 and its 200 day moving average is $417.40. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The stock has a market cap of $2.68 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.97, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.00.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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 period last year, the firm earned $2.93 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.92%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. Microsoft’s payout ratio is 26.73%.

Microsoft Company 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.