Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Sold by WFA Asset Management Corp

WFA Asset Management Corp reduced its position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 14.0% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 824 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 134 shares during the quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $347,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Net Worth Advisory Group purchased a new position in Microsoft during the third quarter worth about $2,645,000. Oak Ridge Investments LLC increased its position in Microsoft by 7.6% during the 3rd quarter. Oak Ridge Investments LLC now owns 263,534 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $113,399,000 after purchasing an additional 18,544 shares during the period. Focus Financial Network Inc. raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. Focus Financial Network Inc. now owns 76,296 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $32,830,000 after buying an additional 1,489 shares in the last quarter. Campbell Wealth Management acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $3,314,000. Finally, Evernest Financial Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 389.2% in the third quarter. Evernest Financial Advisors LLC now owns 53,770 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $23,137,000 after buying an additional 42,778 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have issued reports on MSFT shares. StockNews.com cut Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. DA Davidson upgraded shares of Microsoft from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the company from $425.00 to $450.00 in a report on Thursday, March 13th. Scotiabank began coverage on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, March 20th. They set a “sector outperform” rating and a $470.00 price objective on the stock. UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of Microsoft from $525.00 to $510.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $509.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $510.59.

Microsoft Stock Up 0.2 %

MSFT stock opened at $390.58 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $406.52 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $419.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a current ratio of 1.35. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.90 trillion, a P/E ratio of 31.45, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.92. Microsoft Co. has a one year low of $376.91 and a one year high of $468.35.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The software giant reported $3.23 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.15 by $0.08. Microsoft had a return on equity of 33.36% and a net margin of 35.43%. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.93 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.85%. Microsoft’s payout ratio is currently 26.73%.

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.