Decker Retirement Planning Inc. Has $371,000 Holdings in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Key Points

• Decker Retirement Planning Inc. significantly reduced its stake in Microsoft by 91.9%, owning only 988 shares after selling 11,183 during the first quarter.
• Several hedge funds also adjusted their positions, with Newton One Investments LLC increasing their stake by 66.7%, while others like Fairway Wealth LLC entered a new position.
• Equities analysts have raised Microsoft’s price targets, with Mizuho setting a new target of $625 and Jefferies Financial Group at $675, maintaining a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy".

Decker Retirement Planning Inc. trimmed its position in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 91.9% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 988 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 11,183 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up 0.2% of Decker Retirement Planning Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 29th biggest holding. Decker Retirement Planning Inc.'s holdings in Microsoft were worth $371,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Newton One Investments LLC raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 66.7% in the first quarter. Newton One Investments LLC now owns 75 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Ball & Co Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. LSV Asset Management bought a new position in shares of Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth about $44,000. IFS Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 50.0% during the 1st quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 150 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $57,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fairway Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at about $62,000. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MSFT has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. KeyCorp upgraded shares of Microsoft from a "sector weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $630.00 price target for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on Microsoft from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Microsoft from $465.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Microsoft from $605.00 to $613.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Finally, Wedbush upped their target price on shares of Microsoft from $600.00 to $625.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $609.86.

Microsoft Trading Up 0.2%

MSFT stock traded up $1.20 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $522.04. The company's stock had a trading volume of 15,514,819 shares, compared to its average volume of 19,782,852. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $496.85 and its 200-day simple moving average is $438.17. The company has a quick ratio of 1.35, a current ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The stock has a market cap of $3.88 trillion, a PE ratio of 38.27, a price-to-earnings-growth 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.

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

Microsoft Announces Dividend

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $453.77, for a total transaction of $9,756,055.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 134,888 shares of the company's stock, valued at $61,208,127.76. This trade represents a 13.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Judson Althoff sold 16,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 54,743 shares of company stock valued at $24,921,913 in the last three months. Insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

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.