Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Sold by BSW Wealth Partners

Key Points

• BSW Wealth Partners has reduced its holdings in Microsoft Corporation by 12.5%, now owning 17,792 shares valued at approximately $6.68 million.
• Multiple other large investors have increased their positions in Microsoft, including Jag Capital Management, which raised its stake by 17.1%, holding now over 107,000 shares worth $40.5 million.
• Microsoft reported strong earnings for the last quarter, with $3.65 EPS and revenues of $76.44 billion, exceeding analyst expectations.

BSW Wealth Partners lowered its position in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 12.5% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 17,792 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 2,541 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for 1.0% of BSW Wealth Partners' investment portfolio, making the stock its 17th largest holding. BSW Wealth Partners' holdings in Microsoft were worth $6,679,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Jag Capital Management LLC raised its position in Microsoft by 17.1% in the first quarter. Jag Capital Management LLC now owns 107,986 shares of the software giant's stock worth $40,537,000 after acquiring an additional 15,765 shares in the last quarter. Mascoma Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 5.5% in the 1st quarter. Mascoma Wealth Management LLC now owns 8,953 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $3,361,000 after purchasing an additional 470 shares in the last quarter. CUSHING ASSET MANAGEMENT LP dba NXG INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 50.0% in the first quarter. CUSHING ASSET MANAGEMENT LP dba NXG INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT now owns 15,000 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $5,631,000 after purchasing an additional 5,000 shares during the period. 3Chopt Investment Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 38.8% during the first quarter. 3Chopt Investment Partners LLC now owns 22,004 shares of the software giant's stock worth $8,260,000 after buying an additional 6,146 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hartmann Taylor Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Microsoft in the first quarter valued at about $1,511,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 3,000 shares of the business'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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 43,930 shares in the company, valued at $20,339,590. The trade was a 6.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Amy Coleman sold 13,243 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $452.01, for a total transaction of $5,985,968.43. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 43,100 shares in the company, valued at $19,481,631. This represents a 23.50% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 54,743 shares of company stock worth $24,921,913 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on Microsoft from $550.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on Microsoft from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Guggenheim reiterated a "neutral" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Microsoft from $550.00 to $625.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Westpark Capital reiterated a "hold" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $609.86.

Microsoft Stock Up 0.2%

Shares of NASDAQ:MSFT traded up $1.20 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $522.04. 15,514,819 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 19,782,852. The firm has a market cap of $3.88 trillion, a P/E ratio of 38.27, a PEG ratio of 2.29 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 firm's 50 day simple moving average is $496.85 and its 200 day simple moving average is $438.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 1.35 and a current ratio of 1.35.

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

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced 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 is Thursday, August 21st. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.6%. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 24.34%.

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.