Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Sold by Vantage Financial Partners LLC

Vantage Financial Partners LLC trimmed its position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 1.5% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 7,050 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 109 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up approximately 0.7% of Vantage Financial Partners LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 21st biggest position. Vantage Financial Partners LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $2,972,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of MSFT. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth $38,000. IFS Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 53.8% during the fourth quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 100 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 35 shares during the period. Avondale Wealth Management lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 144.4% during the fourth quarter. Avondale Wealth Management now owns 110 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $46,000 after buying an additional 65 shares during the period. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the third quarter worth $62,000. Finally, Kieckhefer Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth $141,000. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently commented on MSFT. KeyCorp reiterated a “sector weight” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $465.00 to $475.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Wedbush boosted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $515.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $470.00 to $485.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $515.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $507.77.

Microsoft Stock Up 0.1%

MSFT stock opened at $438.73 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.26 trillion, a P/E ratio of 35.32, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.99. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $389.19 and a 200-day simple moving average of $411.54. The company has a quick ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. Microsoft Co. has a 52 week low of $344.79 and a 52 week high of $468.35.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.22 by $0.24. The business had revenue of $70.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $68.54 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.43% and a return on equity of 33.36%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.94 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced 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 is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.76%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is currently 25.66%.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In other news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 6,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $433.17, for a total transaction of $2,599,020.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 471,036 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $204,038,664.12. The trade was a 1.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

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.