Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Sold by Graybill Wealth Management LTD.

Graybill Wealth Management LTD. trimmed its holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 0.4% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 14,306 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 62 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises 2.5% of Graybill Wealth Management LTD.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 14th largest holding. Graybill Wealth Management LTD.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $6,019,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in MSFT. Morris Financial Concepts Inc. boosted its position in Microsoft by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Morris Financial Concepts Inc. now owns 2,663 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,001,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Innova Wealth Partners boosted its position in Microsoft by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Innova Wealth Partners now owns 4,239 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,594,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Arkansas Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in Microsoft by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Arkansas Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,719 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $646,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Partnership Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Microsoft by 0.4% during the first quarter. Partnership Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,202 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $2,609,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sicart Associates LLC boosted its position in Microsoft by 2.9% during the fourth quarter. Sicart Associates LLC now owns 926 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $348,000 after acquiring an additional 26 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Microsoft news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 322 shares of the firm’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 transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 47,255 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,686,433. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 322 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $416.60, for a total value of $134,145.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 47,255 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,686,433. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 104,949 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $44,674,690.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 25,566 shares of company stock valued at $10,877,535 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Microsoft stock opened at $460.77 on Friday. Microsoft Co. has a 12-month low of $309.45 and a 12-month high of $461.02. The company has a market capitalization of $3.42 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a current ratio of 1.24 and a quick ratio of 1.23. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $427.29 and its 200 day moving average price is $411.76.

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

Microsoft Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on MSFT. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of Microsoft from $455.00 to $465.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 12th. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and set a $500.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday, May 22nd. Raymond James restated an “outperform” rating and set a $480.00 target price (up previously from $450.00) on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday, April 26th. New Street Research began coverage on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Monday, June 10th. They set a “buy” rating and a $570.00 price target on the stock. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on shares of Microsoft from $450.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $467.12.

Microsoft Company Profile

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.