Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) is Heritage Wealth Advisors' 3rd Largest Position

Heritage Wealth Advisors cut its stake in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 3.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 164,753 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 5,102 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for about 3.4% of Heritage Wealth Advisors' portfolio, making the stock its 3rd biggest position. Heritage Wealth Advisors' holdings in Microsoft were worth $69,443,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Microsoft during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $38,000. IFS Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 53.8% during the fourth quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 100 shares of the software giant's stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares during the period. Avondale Wealth Management boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 144.4% in the 4th quarter. Avondale Wealth Management now owns 110 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $46,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at $62,000. Finally, Sellwood Investment Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter worth about $120,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 1,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $460.01, for a total transaction of $460,010.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 47,058 shares in the company, valued at $21,647,150.58. This trade represents a 2.08% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 75,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 476,999 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $207,995,413.95. This trade represents a 13.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 132,743 shares of company stock worth $58,835,683 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $510.00 to $480.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 14th. Bank of America reduced their target price on shares of Microsoft from $510.00 to $480.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. DA Davidson lifted their price objective on Microsoft from $450.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on Microsoft from $480.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $513.13.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Microsoft stock traded up $1.45 on Wednesday, hitting $464.42. The company's stock had a trading volume of 7,698,971 shares, compared to its average volume of 21,424,473. Microsoft Co. has a one year low of $344.79 and a one year high of $468.35. The firm has a market cap of $3.45 trillion, a P/E ratio of 37.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $411.89 and a 200-day moving average price of $415.62. 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 (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.22 by $0.24. The firm had revenue of $70.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $68.54 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.43% and a return on equity of 33.36%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.94 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced 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 0.71%. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio is currently 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.