Mitchell Sinkler & Starr PA Trims Stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Mitchell Sinkler & Starr PA lowered its stake in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 6.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 61,211 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 3,911 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises 6.9% of Mitchell Sinkler & Starr PA's portfolio, making the stock its largest holding. Mitchell Sinkler & Starr PA's holdings in Microsoft were worth $25,801,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. WFA Asset Management Corp increased its position in Microsoft by 27.0% in the 1st quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 1,016 shares of the software giant's stock worth $427,000 after buying an additional 216 shares during the period. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 0.3% in the second quarter. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. now owns 12,658 shares of the software giant's stock worth $5,658,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Discipline Wealth Solutions LLC increased its position in Microsoft by 410.4% during 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 increased its position in Microsoft by 4.1% during the third quarter. United Bank now owns 18,378 shares of the software giant's stock worth $7,908,000 after acquiring an additional 730 shares during the period. Finally, Circle Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Microsoft by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Circle Wealth Management LLC now owns 109,956 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $47,314,000 after purchasing an additional 1,025 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MSFT has been the topic of several research analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on shares of Microsoft from $480.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. BMO Capital Markets reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on Microsoft from $475.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Tigress Financial boosted their price objective on Microsoft from $550.00 to $595.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Microsoft currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $513.13.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 75,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $436.05, for a total transaction of $32,703,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 476,999 shares in the company, valued at $207,995,413.95. The trade was a 13.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 1,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $460.01, for a total value of $460,010.00. Following the transaction, 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 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 three months. 0.03% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Microsoft Price Performance

MSFT stock traded up $2.70 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $470.38. 15,268,509 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 21,465,117. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $415.43 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $416.31. 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 1-year low of $344.79 and a 1-year high of $473.29. The company has a market cap of $3.50 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.87, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.03.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.22 by $0.24. Microsoft had a return on equity of 33.36% and a net margin of 35.43%. The business had revenue of $70.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $68.54 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.94 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be given a dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend 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.