Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Sold by Investment Partners Asset Management Inc.

Investment Partners Asset Management Inc. trimmed its position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 2.1% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 12,695 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 269 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises approximately 4.8% of Investment Partners Asset Management Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest holding. Investment Partners Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $5,341,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Sinecera Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the 1st quarter valued at $219,000. Signet Financial Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 4.0% during the 1st quarter. Signet Financial Management LLC now owns 29,387 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $12,364,000 after acquiring an additional 1,133 shares during the last quarter. Sar Wealth Management Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 49.3% during the 1st quarter. Sar Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 4,271 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $1,797,000 after acquiring an additional 1,411 shares during the last quarter. Sandbox Financial Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 5.5% during the 1st quarter. Sandbox Financial Partners LLC now owns 37,305 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $15,695,000 after acquiring an additional 1,952 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cairn Investment Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 1.2% during the 1st quarter. Cairn Investment Group Inc. now owns 3,173 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $1,335,000 after acquiring an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on MSFT shares. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Microsoft from $465.00 to $520.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. KeyCorp started coverage on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. They set an “overweight” rating and a $490.00 target price on the stock. Raymond James reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $480.00 target price (up from $450.00) on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $485.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $495.00 to $520.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, June 21st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $467.12.

Microsoft Trading Up 0.3 %

Microsoft stock opened at $460.77 on Friday. 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 Co. has a one year low of $309.45 and a one year high of $461.02. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $427.29 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $411.76. The company has a market capitalization of $3.42 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.89, a PEG ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 0.89.

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

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.65%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 15th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 25.97%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In related news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 322 shares of the 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 sale, the chief marketing officer now owns 47,255 shares in the company, valued at $19,686,433. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 322 shares of the 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 sale, the chief marketing officer now owns 47,255 shares in the company, valued at $19,686,433. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 104,949 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $44,674,690.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 25,566 shares of company stock worth $10,877,535 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

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.