Prospect Financial Services LLC Sells 264 Shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Prospect Financial Services LLC lowered its holdings in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 2.8% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 9,222 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 264 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises 1.9% of Prospect Financial Services LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 17th largest holding. Prospect Financial Services LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $3,462,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Ball & Co Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $38,000. LSV Asset Management acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft in the 4th quarter worth approximately $44,000. IFS Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 50.0% during the 1st quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 150 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $57,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the period. Finally, Fairway Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth approximately $62,000. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, EVP Amy Coleman sold 13,243 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $452.01, for a total transaction of $5,985,968.43. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 43,100 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,481,631. The trade was a 23.50% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 6,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $433.17, for a total value of $2,599,020.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 471,036 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $204,038,664.12. The trade was a 1.26% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 135,743 shares of company stock worth $60,224,683. 0.03% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MSFT has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. DA Davidson increased their price objective on Microsoft from $500.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Mizuho boosted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $500.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Tigress Financial lifted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $550.00 to $595.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $524.71.

Microsoft Trading Up 1.5%

MSFT opened at $498.25 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.70 trillion, a P/E ratio of 38.50, a P/E/G ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a current ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. Microsoft Corporation has a 12 month low of $344.79 and a 12 month high of $500.76. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $461.41 and its 200 day simple moving average is $423.67.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.22 by $0.24. Microsoft had a return on equity of 32.74% and a net margin of 35.79%. The business had revenue of $70.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $68.54 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.94 EPS. Microsoft’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Microsoft Corporation 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, September 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 21st will be given a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.67%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 21st. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 25.66%.

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.