Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) Stock Position Reduced by Guardian Asset Advisors LLC

Guardian Asset Advisors LLC cut its position in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 0.4% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 13,291 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 47 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up approximately 3.3% of Guardian Asset Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 9th biggest position. Guardian Asset Advisors LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $4,994,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Fosun International Ltd increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.3% during the first quarter. Fosun International Ltd now owns 6,633 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $2,490,000 after acquiring an additional 23 shares during the last quarter. Retirement Financial Solutions LLC increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Retirement Financial Solutions LLC now owns 1,050 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $443,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. Kuhn & Co Investment Counsel increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Kuhn & Co Investment Counsel now owns 3,286 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $1,385,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Alliance Wealth Management Group increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Alliance Wealth Management Group now owns 5,617 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $2,368,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Guidance Point Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Guidance Point Advisors LLC now owns 4,294 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $1,811,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Microsoft Stock Up 0.2%

MSFT stock opened at $522.04 on Monday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $496.85 and a 200 day moving average price of $438.17. Microsoft Corporation has a 12 month low of $344.79 and a 12 month high of $555.45. The company has a market cap of $3.88 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 1.35.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $3.65 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.35 by $0.30. Microsoft had a net margin of 36.15% and a return on equity of 32.44%. The firm had revenue of $76.44 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $73.79 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.95 EPS. Microsoft’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.1% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 21st will be paid a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 21st. Microsoft’s payout ratio is currently 24.34%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $530.00 to $582.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. DA Davidson lifted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $600.00 to $650.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Wedbush lifted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $600.00 to $625.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $515.00 to $545.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 25th. Finally, Raymond James Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $490.00 to $570.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, July 28th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $609.86.

Insider Activity

In other Microsoft news, EVP Judson Althoff sold 16,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $458.18, for a total value of $7,330,880.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 98,010 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $44,906,221.80. The trade was a 14.03% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $463.00, for a total transaction of $1,389,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 43,930 shares in the company, valued at $20,339,590. This represents a 6.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 54,743 shares of company stock valued at $24,921,913. 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.