Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) is Balboa Wealth Partners' 3rd Largest Position

Balboa Wealth Partners reduced its stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 1.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 55,011 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 910 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up about 5.3% of Balboa Wealth Partners' holdings, making the stock its 3rd largest holding. Balboa Wealth Partners' holdings in Microsoft were worth $23,187,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth $38,000. IFS Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 53.8% during the 4th quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 100 shares of the software giant's stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. Avondale Wealth Management boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 144.4% during the 4th quarter. Avondale Wealth Management now owns 110 shares of the software giant's stock worth $46,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft in the 3rd quarter valued at about $62,000. Finally, Fairway Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth about $62,000. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MSFT has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Guggenheim reaffirmed a "neutral" rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, May 1st. DA Davidson boosted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $450.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Wedbush restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday. Westpark Capital reaffirmed a "hold" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $480.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Microsoft presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $512.63.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, EVP Judson Althoff sold 16,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $458.18, for a total value of $7,330,880.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 98,010 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $44,906,221.80. The trade was a 14.03% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Amy Coleman sold 13,243 shares of the company'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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 43,100 shares of the company's stock, valued at $19,481,631. The trade was a 23.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 110,243 shares of company stock worth $48,619,618. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of MSFT traded down $5.60 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $452.57. 19,196,249 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 21,549,924. The company has a quick ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. Microsoft Co. has a 52-week low of $344.79 and a 52-week high of $468.35. The company has a market cap of $3.36 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.44, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $398.43 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $413.04.

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

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 15th will be paid a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.73%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. 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.