Prentice Wealth Management LLC Cuts Stock Holdings in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Prentice Wealth Management LLC decreased its holdings in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 3.4% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 9,909 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 345 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises approximately 1.1% of Prentice Wealth Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 19th biggest position. Prentice Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $3,720,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Ball & Co Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $38,000. LSV Asset Management purchased a new stake in Microsoft in the fourth quarter worth approximately $44,000. IFS Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 50.0% in the first quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 150 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $57,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fairway Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Microsoft in the fourth quarter worth approximately $62,000. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of MSFT opened at $510.05 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 1.36 and a current ratio of 1.37. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.79 trillion, a PE ratio of 39.42, a PEG ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $477.78 and a 200-day moving average price of $428.49. Microsoft Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $344.79 and a fifty-two week high of $514.64.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.22 by $0.24. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.79% and a return on equity of 32.74%. The firm had revenue of $70.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $68.54 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.94 EPS. Microsoft’s revenue was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.65%. Microsoft’s payout ratio is 25.66%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on MSFT. TD Securities lifted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $490.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $600.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $530.00 price target (up from $482.00) on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, June 26th. Mizuho boosted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $540.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $430.00 to $494.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-nine have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $541.79.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In related news, EVP Judson Althoff sold 16,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, May 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $458.18, for a total transaction of $7,330,880.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 98,010 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $44,906,221.80. This represents a 14.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $463.00, for a total transaction of $1,389,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 43,930 shares in the company, valued at $20,339,590. This trade represents a 6.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 135,743 shares of company stock valued at $60,224,683. 0.03% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.