Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) Holdings Trimmed by SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC

SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC lessened its holdings in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 1.3% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 72,571 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 974 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for 3.1% of SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 4th largest position. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $27,243,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on MSFT. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Guggenheim restated a "neutral" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $465.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Raymond James Financial raised their price target on Microsoft from $480.00 to $490.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $430.00 to $494.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-nine have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $524.71.

Microsoft Stock Up 1.5%

MSFT opened at $498.25 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.36, a current ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $461.41 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $423.67. Microsoft Corporation has a 52 week low of $344.79 and a 52 week high of $500.76. The company has a market cap of $3.70 trillion, a PE ratio of 38.50, a P/E/G ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 1.04.

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

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 21st will be paid a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.67%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 21st. Microsoft's payout ratio is 25.66%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In related news, 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 transaction of $5,985,968.43. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 43,100 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $19,481,631. This represents a 23.50% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 3,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $463.00, for a total transaction of $1,389,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 43,930 shares in the company, valued at $20,339,590. This represents a 6.39% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 135,743 shares of company stock valued at $60,224,683. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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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