Ewa LLC Has $3.86 Million Stock Holdings in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Key Points

• Ewa LLC reduced its stake in Microsoft by 39.9%, holding 10,283 shares valued at approximately $3.86 million.
• Several institutional investors, including Newton One Investments LLC and LSV Asset Management, adjusted their positions, with 71.13% of the stock now owned by institutional investors.
• Microsoft reported earnings of $3.65 EPS, exceeding analyst expectations, and announced a quarterly dividend of $0.83 per share with a yield of 0.65%.

EWA LLC reduced its holdings in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 39.9% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 10,283 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 6,838 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up 1.4% of EWA LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 18th biggest position. EWA LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $3,860,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Brady Martz Wealth Solutions LLC raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 1.4% during the 1st quarter. Brady Martz Wealth Solutions LLC now owns 6,650 shares of the software giant's stock worth $2,496,000 after buying an additional 95 shares in the last quarter. Mcdaniel Terry & Co. grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 6.1% in the 4th quarter. Mcdaniel Terry & Co. now owns 315,594 shares of the software giant's stock worth $133,023,000 after purchasing an additional 18,052 shares during the last quarter. 1900 Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 3.0% in the 4th quarter. 1900 Wealth Management LLC now owns 10,140 shares of the software giant's stock worth $4,274,000 after purchasing an additional 294 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Financial Services Inc. grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 7.8% in the 4th quarter. Strategic Financial Services Inc. now owns 17,426 shares of the software giant's stock worth $7,345,000 after purchasing an additional 1,268 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Elevate Wealth Advisory Inc. grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 147.9% in the 4th quarter. Elevate Wealth Advisory Inc. now owns 1,748 shares of the software giant's stock worth $737,000 after purchasing an additional 1,043 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Microsoft from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, June 30th. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $550.00 to $625.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday. TD Cowen lifted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $580.00 to $640.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday. TD Securities lifted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $490.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $525.00 to $640.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $609.86.

Microsoft Trading Down 1.8%

Shares of NASDAQ MSFT traded down $9.39 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $524.11. The company's stock had a trading volume of 28,948,527 shares, compared to its average volume of 17,331,950. The stock has a market cap of $3.90 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 1.36. Microsoft Corporation has a one year low of $344.79 and a one year high of $555.45. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $488.46 and its 200-day simple moving average is $434.13.

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

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 6,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $433.17, for a total value of $2,599,020.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 471,036 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $204,038,664.12. This trade represents a 1.26% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Judson Althoff sold 16,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $458.18, for a total transaction of $7,330,880.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 98,010 shares in the company, 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. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 60,743 shares of company stock worth $27,520,933. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.