Ameritas Advisory Services LLC Trims Stock Position in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Ameritas Advisory Services LLC cut its stake in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 26.9% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 59,616 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 21,937 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises approximately 1.0% of Ameritas Advisory Services LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 19th largest position. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $23,959,000 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. New Wave Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in Microsoft by 15.3% in the first quarter. New Wave Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 11,011 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $4,133,000 after purchasing an additional 1,459 shares during the period. Northwest Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 2.2% in the first quarter. Northwest Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,940 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $3,731,000 after acquiring an additional 215 shares in the last quarter. Cairn Investment Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 3.4% in the first quarter. Cairn Investment Group Inc. now owns 3,031 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $1,138,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Albion Financial Group UT boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.6% in the first quarter. Albion Financial Group UT now owns 138,381 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $51,947,000 after acquiring an additional 785 shares in the last quarter. Finally, William Howard & Co Financial Advisors Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the first quarter valued at about $231,000. 71.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of MSFT opened at $529.24 on Wednesday. Microsoft Corporation has a 52-week low of $344.79 and a 52-week high of $555.45. The company has a quick ratio of 1.35, a current ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The firm has a market cap of $3.93 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.80, a PEG ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 1.06. The business’s 50 day moving average is $499.37 and its two-hundred day moving average is $439.35.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $3.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.35 by $0.30. Microsoft had a return on equity of 32.44% and a net margin of 36.15%. The business had revenue of $76.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $73.79 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.95 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

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 of this dividend is Thursday, August 21st. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.6%. Microsoft’s payout ratio is presently 24.34%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently commented on MSFT shares. Guggenheim reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $600.00 to $630.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Microsoft from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, August 2nd. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Microsoft from $550.00 to $625.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on shares of Microsoft from $480.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $609.86.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Judson Althoff sold 16,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on Monday, May 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $458.18, for a total transaction of $7,330,880.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 98,010 shares in the company, valued at approximately $44,906,221.80. This trade represents a 14.03% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Amy Coleman sold 13,243 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $452.01, for a total value of $5,985,968.43. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 43,100 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,481,631. This trade represents a 23.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 54,743 shares of company stock worth $24,921,913 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

About Microsoft

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.