Atlas Private Wealth Advisors Decreases Stock Position in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Atlas Private Wealth Advisors lessened its stake in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 10.5% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 16,101 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 1,882 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises about 0.8% of Atlas Private Wealth Advisors’ holdings, making the stock its 29th largest holding. Atlas Private Wealth Advisors’ holdings in Microsoft were worth $6,046,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

Microsoft Trading Down 0.3%

Shares of MSFT opened at $510.05 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $477.78 and its 200 day moving average price is $428.49. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.79 trillion, a P/E ratio of 39.42, a P/E/G ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 1.04. Microsoft Corporation has a 1-year low of $344.79 and a 1-year high of $514.64. 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 (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.22 by $0.24. The firm had revenue of $70.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $68.54 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 32.74% and a net margin of 35.79%. Microsoft’s revenue was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.94 EPS. Analysts expect that Microsoft Corporation 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, September 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 21st will be paid a dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 21st. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.65%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.66%.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,500 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $453.77, for a total transaction of $9,756,055.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 134,888 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $61,208,127.76. The trade was a 13.75% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 3,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $463.00, for a total value of $1,389,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 43,930 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,339,590. This trade represents a 6.39% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 135,743 shares of company stock worth $60,224,683. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MSFT has been the topic of several research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Microsoft from $465.00 to $475.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Wall Street Zen lowered Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, June 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on Microsoft from $480.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $581.00 price target (up from $512.00) on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Bank of America upped their price target on Microsoft from $515.00 to $585.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $541.79.

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.