Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Sold by Beam Wealth Advisors Inc.

Beam Wealth Advisors Inc. lowered its holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 5.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 11,458 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 624 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises 1.5% of Beam Wealth Advisors Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 14th largest position. Beam Wealth Advisors Inc.'s holdings in Microsoft were worth $4,829,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of MSFT. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at about $38,000. IFS Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 53.8% in the fourth quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 100 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. Avondale Wealth Management boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 144.4% in the fourth quarter. Avondale Wealth Management now owns 110 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in Microsoft in the third quarter valued at about $62,000. Finally, Kieckhefer Group LLC purchased a new position in Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at about $141,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 75,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on Friday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $436.05, for a total transaction of $32,703,750.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 476,999 shares in the company, valued at approximately $207,995,413.95. This trade represents a 13.59% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.03% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MSFT has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Mizuho increased their price target on Microsoft from $475.00 to $500.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. StockNews.com raised Microsoft from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, May 5th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on Microsoft from $500.00 to $525.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Barclays increased their target price on Microsoft from $430.00 to $494.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Guggenheim reaffirmed a "neutral" rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $507.77.

Microsoft Stock Performance

MSFT traded up $3.80 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $452.94. The company's stock had a trading volume of 19,864,490 shares, compared to its average volume of 21,511,825. Microsoft Co. has a fifty-two week low of $344.79 and a fifty-two week high of $468.35. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.37 trillion, a PE ratio of 36.47, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $391.20 and a 200 day simple moving average of $411.86.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.22 by $0.24. Microsoft had a return on equity of 33.36% and a net margin of 35.43%. The firm had revenue of $70.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $68.54 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.94 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be given a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.73%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.66%.

Microsoft 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.