Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Sold by Atticus Wealth Management LLC

Key Points

• Atticus Wealth Management LLC reduced its stake in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ: MSFT) by 5.3% during the first quarter, now holding 14,961 shares valued at approximately $5.6 million.
• Microsoft reported stronger-than-expected quarterly earnings with an EPS of $3.65, exceeding analyst expectations and reflecting a year-over-year revenue increase of 18.1%.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.83 per share, scheduled for payment on September 11th, representing an annualized yield of 0.65%.

Atticus Wealth Management LLC reduced its position in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 5.3% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 14,961 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 831 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises approximately 1.8% of Atticus Wealth Management LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 10th largest position. Atticus Wealth Management LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $5,616,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of MSFT. Ball & Co Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at about $31,000. Newton One Investments LLC increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 66.7% during the first quarter. Newton One Investments LLC now owns 75 shares of the software giant's stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares during the period. LSV Asset Management acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth about $44,000. Fairway Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth about $62,000. Finally, IFS Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 50.0% during the first quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 150 shares of the software giant's stock worth $57,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $515.00 to $545.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on shares of Microsoft from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday. DA Davidson upped their target price on shares of Microsoft from $600.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday. Westpark Capital restated a "hold" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Loop Capital upped their target price on shares of Microsoft from $550.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $609.86.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Judson Althoff sold 16,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, May 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $458.18, for a total value of $7,330,880.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 98,010 shares of the company's stock, valued at $44,906,221.80. This represents a 14.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 3,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $463.00, for a total transaction of $1,389,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 43,930 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $20,339,590. The trade was a 6.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 60,743 shares of company stock valued at $27,520,933. 0.03% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Microsoft Trading Down 1.8%

NASDAQ:MSFT traded down $9.39 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $524.11. 28,948,527 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 17,331,950. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 1.36. The firm has a market cap of $3.90 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.42, a PEG ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 1.06. Microsoft Corporation has a 52-week low of $344.79 and a 52-week high of $555.45. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $488.46 and a 200 day simple moving average of $434.13.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $3.65 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.35 by $0.30. The company had revenue of $76.44 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $73.79 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 36.15% and a return on equity of 32.44%. Microsoft's revenue was up 18.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.95 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 21st will be given a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 21st. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.6%. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio is presently 24.34%.

About Microsoft

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.