Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Position Lessened by Florida Financial Advisors LLC

Florida Financial Advisors LLC trimmed its holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 26.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 17,297 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 6,327 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for approximately 3.3% of Florida Financial Advisors LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 7th largest position. Florida Financial Advisors LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $7,291,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in MSFT. Aire Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Microsoft by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Aire Advisors LLC now owns 13,099 shares of the software giant's stock worth $5,521,000 after purchasing an additional 309 shares in the last quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. raised its holdings in Microsoft by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. now owns 272,855 shares of the software giant's stock worth $115,008,000 after purchasing an additional 2,178 shares in the last quarter. Keystone Investors PTE Ltd. raised its holdings in Microsoft by 131.1% during the fourth quarter. Keystone Investors PTE Ltd. now owns 192,533 shares of the software giant's stock worth $81,153,000 after purchasing an additional 109,239 shares in the last quarter. Bay Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth about $1,663,000. Finally, Potentia Wealth acquired a new position in Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth about $7,059,000. 71.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Microsoft Trading Up 0.2%

MSFT stock traded up $0.98 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $462.95. The company had a trading volume of 7,888,285 shares, compared to its average volume of 21,432,333. The business has a 50-day moving average of $410.44 and a 200-day moving average of $415.29. Microsoft Co. has a one year low of $344.79 and a one year high of $468.35. The stock has a market cap of $3.44 trillion, a PE ratio of 37.27, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.99. 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 issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.22 by $0.24. The company had revenue of $70.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $68.54 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 33.36% and a net margin of 35.43%. Microsoft's quarterly revenue was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.94 EPS. Research analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 0.72%. Microsoft's payout ratio is 25.66%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. KeyCorp reiterated a "sector weight" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Guggenheim reiterated a "neutral" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. TD Securities increased their price target on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $490.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $500.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $513.13.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Microsoft news, EVP Amy Coleman sold 13,243 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $452.01, for a total value of $5,985,968.43. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 43,100 shares of the company's stock, valued at $19,481,631. The trade was a 23.50% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 6,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $433.17, for a total value of $2,599,020.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 471,036 shares in the company, valued at $204,038,664.12. This trade represents a 1.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 132,743 shares of company stock worth $58,835,683 in the last quarter. 0.03% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.