Inspirion Wealth Advisors LLC Reduces Stock Holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Inspirion Wealth Advisors LLC cut its holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 4.4% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 5,077 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 232 shares during the quarter. Inspirion Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $2,136,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Financial Security Advisor Inc. lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Financial Security Advisor Inc. now owns 27,270 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $10,255,000 after acquiring an additional 452 shares in the last quarter. Gunderson Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Gunderson Capital Management Inc. now owns 24,887 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $9,359,000 after purchasing an additional 185 shares in the last quarter. Rappaport Reiches Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 14.9% during the 4th quarter. Rappaport Reiches Capital Management LLC now owns 8,213 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $3,089,000 after purchasing an additional 1,067 shares during the last quarter. Bayesian Capital Management LP grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 60.1% during the fourth quarter. Bayesian Capital Management LP now owns 48,500 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $18,238,000 after buying an additional 18,200 shares in the last quarter. Finally, RNC Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 10.4% in the fourth quarter. RNC Capital Management LLC now owns 69,053 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $25,967,000 after buying an additional 6,484 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have commented on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $500.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Friday, May 24th. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $500.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday, May 22nd. Oppenheimer raised their price target on Microsoft from $450.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, June 7th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $480.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Finally, Macquarie raised their target price on shares of Microsoft from $460.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 17th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $467.12.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 322 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $416.60, for a total transaction of $134,145.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer now owns 47,255 shares in the company, valued at $19,686,433. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 23rd. The stock was 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 322 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $416.60, for a total value of $134,145.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 47,255 shares in the company, valued at $19,686,433. 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. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Stock Up 2.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $456.73 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $3.39 trillion, a PE ratio of 39.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $424.11 and a 200 day simple moving average of $410.15. The company has a current ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17. Microsoft Co. has a 12-month low of $309.45 and a 12-month high of $457.37.

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

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 15th will be issued a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 15th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.66%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.