Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) Holdings Decreased by Financial Insights Inc.

Financial Insights Inc. lessened its stake in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 20.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 49,540 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 12,822 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up approximately 8.1% of Financial Insights Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 3rd biggest position. Financial Insights Inc.'s holdings in Microsoft were worth $20,881,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Muirfield Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Muirfield Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,427 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $1,866,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares during the period. Retirement Financial Solutions LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Retirement Financial Solutions LLC now owns 1,050 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $443,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. Sterling Group Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Sterling Group Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,540 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $2,335,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Kuhn & Co Investment Counsel lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Kuhn & Co Investment Counsel now owns 3,286 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $1,385,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Alliance Wealth Management Group raised its holdings in Microsoft by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Alliance Wealth Management Group now owns 5,617 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $2,368,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In other news, EVP Amy Coleman sold 13,243 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $452.01, for a total transaction of $5,985,968.43. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 43,100 shares in the company, valued at $19,481,631. This represents a 23.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 6,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $433.17, for a total transaction of $2,599,020.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 471,036 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 135,743 shares of company stock valued at $60,224,683. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MSFT has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Barclays upped their price objective on Microsoft from $430.00 to $494.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Tigress Financial raised their target price on shares of Microsoft from $550.00 to $595.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $540.00 to $605.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 11th. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $525.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday, May 23rd. Finally, Mizuho upped their price objective on Microsoft from $475.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Microsoft has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $515.68.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Microsoft stock opened at $477.40 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $3.55 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 1.37 and a quick ratio of 1.36. Microsoft Corporation has a 1-year low of $344.79 and a 1-year high of $483.46. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $437.84 and a 200-day simple moving average of $420.40.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.22 by $0.24. The firm had revenue of $70.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $68.54 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 32.74% and a net margin of 35.79%. Microsoft's revenue was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.94 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 21st will be given a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.70%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 21st. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio is presently 25.66%.

Microsoft Company 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.

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