IPG Investment Advisors LLC Sells 5,626 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

IPG Investment Advisors LLC cut its position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 24.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 17,603 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 5,626 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for approximately 1.7% of IPG Investment Advisors LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 17th biggest holding. IPG Investment Advisors LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $7,420,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. WFA Asset Management Corp raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 27.0% during the 1st quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 1,016 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $427,000 after buying an additional 216 shares in the last quarter. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. raised its position in Microsoft by 0.3% during the 2nd quarter. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. now owns 12,658 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $5,658,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Discipline Wealth Solutions LLC lifted its stake in Microsoft by 410.4% in the third quarter. Discipline Wealth Solutions LLC now owns 2,659 shares of the software giant's stock worth $1,144,000 after acquiring an additional 2,138 shares during the period. United Bank boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 4.1% during the 3rd quarter. United Bank now owns 18,378 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $7,908,000 after purchasing an additional 730 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FSA Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Microsoft during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $1,975,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on MSFT shares. TD Securities upped their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $490.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. KeyCorp reaffirmed a "sector weight" rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Benchmark restated a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $480.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Finally, Piper Sandler restated an "overweight" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $513.13.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 6,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 471,036 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $204,038,664.12. This represents a 1.26% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 3,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $463.00, for a total value of $1,389,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 43,930 shares of the company's stock, valued at $20,339,590. This represents a 6.39% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 135,743 shares of company stock valued at $60,224,683 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Microsoft Trading Up 0.6%

Shares of NASDAQ MSFT traded up $2.70 on Friday, reaching $470.38. 15,271,762 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 21,491,705. Microsoft Co. has a fifty-two week low of $344.79 and a fifty-two week high of $473.29. The company has a 50 day moving average of $415.43 and a 200 day moving average of $416.31. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.50 trillion, a PE ratio of 37.87, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.22 by $0.24. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.43% and a return on equity of 33.36%. The business had revenue of $70.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $68.54 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.94 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.71%. Microsoft's payout ratio is 25.66%.

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.