Fragasso Financial Advisors Inc Lowers Stake in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Fragasso Financial Advisors Inc cut its holdings in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 13.7% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 56,906 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 9,050 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up about 1.6% of Fragasso Financial Advisors Inc's portfolio, making the stock its 14th largest holding. Fragasso Financial Advisors Inc's holdings in Microsoft were worth $21,362,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of MSFT. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $44,343,058,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 40,290.4% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 46,695,303 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $17,528,950,000 after buying an additional 46,579,693 shares in the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC grew its stake in Microsoft by 34,643.3% in the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 16,837,278 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $7,096,913,000 after acquiring an additional 16,788,816 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in Microsoft by 16.1% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 83,787,746 shares of the software giant's stock worth $35,316,535,000 after acquiring an additional 11,600,470 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Microsoft by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 684,071,705 shares of the software giant's stock worth $288,336,224,000 after acquiring an additional 10,431,988 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

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 value of $32,703,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 476,999 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $207,995,413.95. The trade was a 13.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Amy Coleman sold 13,243 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $452.01, for a total value of $5,985,968.43. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 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. In the last three months, insiders have sold 135,743 shares of company stock worth $60,224,683. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MSFT has been the subject of a number of research reports. UBS Group cut their target price on shares of Microsoft from $510.00 to $480.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on Microsoft from $480.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Piper Sandler reissued an "overweight" rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on Microsoft from $475.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Tigress Financial boosted their price target on Microsoft from $550.00 to $595.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $521.14.

Microsoft Price Performance

NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $495.94 on Friday. Microsoft Corporation has a 52 week low of $344.79 and a 52 week high of $499.30. The stock's fifty day moving average is $449.47 and its two-hundred day moving average is $422.12. The company has a market capitalization of $3.69 trillion, a P/E ratio of 38.33, a P/E/G ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a quick ratio of 1.36, a current ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.22 by $0.24. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.79% and a return on equity of 32.74%. The firm had revenue of $70.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $68.54 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.94 EPS. Microsoft's revenue was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.67%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 21st. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.

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