Visionary Horizons LLC Decreases Holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Visionary Horizons LLC reduced its position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 5.5% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 3,302 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 192 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up about 1.1% of Visionary Horizons LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 14th biggest position. Visionary Horizons LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $1,393,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Cascade Wealth Advisors Inc bought a new stake in Microsoft during the first quarter valued at approximately $1,861,000. G&S Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 10.4% during the 1st quarter. G&S Capital LLC now owns 5,762 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $2,424,000 after acquiring an additional 542 shares during the last quarter. Aletheian Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 60.0% during the 1st quarter. Aletheian Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 13,591 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $5,718,000 after acquiring an additional 5,097 shares during the period. GoalVest Advisory LLC increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 22.1% in the 1st quarter. GoalVest Advisory LLC now owns 11,619 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $4,888,000 after purchasing an additional 2,104 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sunpointe LLC raised its holdings in Microsoft by 1.9% in the 1st quarter. Sunpointe LLC now owns 13,503 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $5,681,000 after purchasing an additional 254 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have commented on MSFT shares. Citigroup upped their price target on Microsoft from $495.00 to $520.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, June 21st. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their target price on shares of Microsoft from $465.00 to $489.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Raymond James reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $480.00 price target (up previously from $450.00) on shares of Microsoft in a report on Friday, April 26th. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $465.00 price objective (up from $455.00) on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $480.00 to $500.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Microsoft currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $467.12.

Microsoft Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ MSFT opened at $460.77 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.42 trillion, a P/E ratio of 39.89, a PEG ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 0.89. Microsoft Co. has a 1-year low of $309.45 and a 1-year high of $461.02. The business’s 50 day moving average is $426.26 and its two-hundred day moving average is $411.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a current ratio of 1.24 and a quick ratio of 1.23.

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

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 15th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.65%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is presently 25.97%.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In other Microsoft 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 $44,674,690.32. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 244 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 directly owns 47,011 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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. 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.