Worth Asset Management LLC Decreases Stock Holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Worth Asset Management LLC lessened its holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 56.2% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 4,515 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 5,795 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up about 1.2% of Worth Asset Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 22nd largest position. Worth Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $1,900,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Whitaker Myers Wealth Managers LTD. boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 59.5% during the 1st quarter. Whitaker Myers Wealth Managers LTD. now owns 4,053 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,705,000 after acquiring an additional 1,512 shares in the last quarter. Perkins Coie Trust Co boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 0.9% in the first quarter. Perkins Coie Trust Co now owns 68,352 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $28,756,000 after purchasing an additional 636 shares in the last quarter. Financial Synergies Wealth Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in Microsoft by 145.1% during the first quarter. Financial Synergies Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 2,601 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,094,000 after purchasing an additional 1,540 shares in the last quarter. Global Assets Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the 1st quarter worth approximately $989,814,000. Finally, Southland Equity Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 8.3% in the 1st quarter. Southland Equity Partners LLC now owns 8,968 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $3,773,000 after buying an additional 689 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Microsoft news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 244 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $415.53, for a total transaction of $101,389.32. Following the completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 47,011 shares in the company, valued at $19,534,480.83. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 244 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $415.53, for a total transaction of $101,389.32. Following the completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer now owns 47,011 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,534,480.83. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $425.68, for a total transaction of $10,642,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 104,949 shares in the company, valued at approximately $44,674,690.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 25,566 shares of company stock valued at $10,877,535. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Raymond James reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $480.00 price target (up from $450.00) on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on Microsoft from $450.00 to $500.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, June 7th. Stifel Nicolaus reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $455.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $500.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a report on Friday, May 24th. Finally, Truist Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $600.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Monday, June 17th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Microsoft has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $467.12.

Microsoft Price Performance

MSFT stock opened at $446.95 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.32 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a quick ratio of 1.23, a current ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17. Microsoft Co. has a 52-week low of $309.45 and a 52-week high of $456.17. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $424.11 and its 200-day simple moving average is $409.90.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The software giant reported $2.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.81 by $0.13. Microsoft had a net margin of 36.43% and a return on equity of 37.54%. The business had revenue of $61.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $60.86 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.45 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 17.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 11.77 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 15th will be given a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.67%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 15th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 25.97%.

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.