Journey Advisory Group LLC Sells 2,980 Shares of Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Key Points

• Journey Advisory Group LLC reduced its Microsoft stake by 3.3% in the fourth quarter, selling 2,980 shares and ending with 88,462 shares worth about $42.8 million.
• Microsoft posted a strong quarterly update, with EPS of $4.27 and revenue of $82.89 billion, both ahead of analyst expectations and up 18.3% year over year.
• Wall Street remains broadly positive on MSFT: analysts assign it a Moderate Buy rating, with a consensus price target of $560.88, while the company also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.91 per share.

Journey Advisory Group LLC cut its stake in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 3.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 88,462 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 2,980 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for approximately 3.6% of Journey Advisory Group LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest holding. Journey Advisory Group LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $42,782,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Arcataur Capital Management LLC increased its position in Microsoft by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Arcataur Capital Management LLC now owns 10,567 shares of the software giant's stock worth $5,110,000 after buying an additional 252 shares during the period. Emissary Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in Microsoft in the fourth quarter worth $4,268,000. Busey Bank increased its position in Microsoft by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Busey Bank now owns 487,636 shares of the software giant's stock worth $235,831,000 after buying an additional 5,129 shares during the period. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. increased its position in Microsoft by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. now owns 962,834 shares of the software giant's stock worth $465,627,000 after buying an additional 12,933 shares during the period. Finally, TriaGen Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Microsoft by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. TriaGen Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,444 shares of the software giant's stock worth $3,116,000 after buying an additional 40 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Microsoft Price Performance

NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $405.21 on Thursday. The business's 50-day moving average price is $397.73 and its 200 day moving average price is $442.33. The firm has a market cap of $3.01 trillion, a P/E ratio of 24.12, a PEG ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 1.10. Microsoft Corporation has a 52-week low of $356.28 and a 52-week high of $555.45. The company has a quick ratio of 1.27, a current ratio of 1.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The software giant reported $4.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $4.06 by $0.21. The firm had revenue of $82.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $81.44 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 31.94% and a net margin of 39.34%.Microsoft's revenue was up 18.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $3.46 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Microsoft Corporation will post 16.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.91 per share. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 21st. Microsoft's payout ratio is presently 21.67%.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In related news, Director John W. Stanton purchased 5,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 18th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $397.35 per share, for a total transaction of $1,986,750.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 83,905 shares of the company's stock, valued at $33,339,651.75. This trade represents a 6.34% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 12,321 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $409.52, for a total value of $5,045,695.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 137,933 shares of the company's stock, valued at $56,486,322.16. This trade represents a 8.20% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 0.03% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MSFT has been the topic of several analyst reports. Citigroup increased their target price on Microsoft from $600.00 to $620.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price target on Microsoft from $641.00 to $646.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Monday, April 27th. Cantor Fitzgerald lowered their price target on Microsoft to $502.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 27th. Finally, Oppenheimer reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $515.00 price target (down from $630.00) on shares of Microsoft in a report on Monday, April 27th. Thirty-nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Microsoft presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $560.88.

More Microsoft News

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Wedbush reaffirmed Microsoft as an outperform and kept a $575 price target, while Phillip Securities upgraded the stock to buy with a $485 target, underscoring Wall Street’s continued optimism about Microsoft’s long-term AI and cloud growth. Benzinga report
• Positive Sentiment: Several articles highlighted Microsoft as a top long-term or “battered” software stock, with some investors seeing the pullback as an opportunity to buy a dominant franchise at a more attractive valuation. 247WallSt article
• Neutral Sentiment: Microsoft is reportedly looking at startup acquisitions to reduce dependence on OpenAI, which could be a strategic positive over time but also signals that the current partnership is not viewed as fully secure. Reuters article
• Neutral Sentiment: LinkedIn plans to cut about 5% of its workforce as part of a restructuring, which may support margins but also reflects caution across Microsoft’s broader business. Reuters/Invezz article
• Negative Sentiment: Ongoing testimony in Elon Musk’s lawsuit against OpenAI is putting Microsoft’s role in OpenAI under a microscope, reviving concerns about governance, reliance on OpenAI, and possible legal or reputational overhang. CNBC article
• Negative Sentiment: Some investors are worried that Microsoft’s AI capex is rising faster than the market can justify, with articles warning that the company must prove a timely return on its AI investments to sustain the stock’s premium. Motley Fool article

About Microsoft

Microsoft Corporation is a global technology company headquartered in Redmond, Washington. Founded in 1975 by Bill Gates and Paul Allen, Microsoft develops, licenses and supports a broad range of software products, services and devices for consumers, enterprises and governments worldwide. Its operations span personal computing, productivity software, cloud infrastructure, enterprise applications, developer tools and gaming.

Microsoft's product portfolio includes the Windows operating system and the Microsoft 365 suite of productivity and collaboration tools (Office apps, Outlook, Teams).

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