Independent Advisor Alliance Sells 19,279 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Independent Advisor Alliance cut its holdings in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 6.0% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 300,439 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 19,279 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises 4.7% of Independent Advisor Alliance’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 4th largest holding. Independent Advisor Alliance’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $129,279,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 47,229,125 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $20,322,513,000 after acquiring an additional 652,493 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 48,526.1% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 38,501,645 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $16,567,258,000 after acquiring an additional 38,422,466 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.3% during the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 34,511,544 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $15,426,767,000 after acquiring an additional 97,075 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Microsoft by 2.3% during the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 27,904,450 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $12,007,285,000 after purchasing an additional 636,713 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 6.9% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 24,091,789 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $10,768,771,000 after purchasing an additional 1,563,533 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In related news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 1,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $414.72, for a total value of $414,720.00. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer now owns 57,511 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,850,961.92. This trade represents a 1.71 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Christopher David Young sold 7,200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $423.66, for a total value of $3,050,352.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 103,366 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $43,792,039.56. This trade represents a 6.51 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 41,200 shares of company stock valued at $17,383,892 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of Microsoft stock opened at $415.06 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $432.56 and its 200 day simple moving average is $424.88. The company has a current ratio of 1.30, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The company has a market capitalization of $3.09 trillion, a PE ratio of 33.42, a PEG ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 0.90. Microsoft Co. has a 12 month low of $385.58 and a 12 month high of $468.35.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The software giant reported $3.23 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.15 by $0.08. Microsoft had a return on equity of 34.38% and a net margin of 35.43%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.93 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 12.89 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be issued a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.80%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.73%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have issued reports on MSFT. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $500.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $550.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. DA Davidson reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $425.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday. Truist Financial restated a “buy” rating and set a $600.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Monday, October 28th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein reduced their price target on shares of Microsoft from $501.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $510.96.

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.