Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Sold by Etesian Wealth Advisors Inc.

Etesian Wealth Advisors Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 1.0% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 10,229 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 108 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for approximately 2.5% of Etesian Wealth Advisors Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 9th largest holding. Etesian Wealth Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $4,303,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 664,908,939 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $250,032,357,000 after buying an additional 15,701,937 shares during the period. FMR LLC raised its stake in Microsoft by 2.7% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 215,874,152 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $68,162,263,000 after purchasing an additional 5,762,902 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at $35,920,047,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at $9,625,201,000. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC raised its stake in Microsoft by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 25,505,600 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $9,591,126,000 after purchasing an additional 277,881 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have issued reports on MSFT. Evercore ISI raised their target price on Microsoft from $475.00 to $485.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on Microsoft from $465.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 1st. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on Microsoft from $455.00 to $465.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on Microsoft from $450.00 to $515.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Microsoft from $465.00 to $520.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $467.12.

Microsoft Trading Up 2.2 %

MSFT opened at $456.73 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $3.39 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 0.89. Microsoft Co. has a 52 week low of $309.45 and a 52 week high of $457.37. The business’s 50 day moving average is $424.11 and its two-hundred day moving average is $410.15. 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 (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released 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 company had revenue of $61.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $60.86 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 37.54% and a net margin of 36.43%. The firm’s revenue was up 17.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.45 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 11.77 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 15th will be paid a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 15th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.66%. 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.