Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) Stock Position Decreased by Stephens Consulting LLC

Stephens Consulting LLC trimmed its stake in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 35.2% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,742 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 1,492 shares during the quarter. Stephens Consulting LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $1,029,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Adamsbrown Wealth Consultants LLC raised its holdings in Microsoft by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. Adamsbrown Wealth Consultants LLC now owns 5,967 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $2,515,000 after acquiring an additional 130 shares in the last quarter. Mcdaniel Terry & Co. lifted its position in Microsoft by 6.1% during the fourth quarter. Mcdaniel Terry & Co. now owns 315,594 shares of the software giant's stock worth $133,023,000 after purchasing an additional 18,052 shares during the period. 1900 Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Microsoft by 3.0% during the fourth quarter. 1900 Wealth Management LLC now owns 10,140 shares of the software giant's stock worth $4,274,000 after purchasing an additional 294 shares during the period. Strategic Financial Services Inc. grew its stake in Microsoft by 7.8% during the fourth quarter. Strategic Financial Services Inc. now owns 17,426 shares of the software giant's stock worth $7,345,000 after buying an additional 1,268 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Elevate Wealth Advisory Inc. increased its holdings in Microsoft by 147.9% in the 4th quarter. Elevate Wealth Advisory Inc. now owns 1,748 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $737,000 after buying an additional 1,043 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of MSFT traded up $6.33 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $512.20. 7,549,773 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 22,218,043. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 1.36 and a current ratio of 1.37. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $481.17 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $430.27. The company has a market cap of $3.81 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 1.04. Microsoft Corporation has a 12-month low of $344.79 and a 12-month high of $514.64.

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 for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $70.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $68.54 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.94 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 21st will be issued a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.65%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 21st. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio is presently 25.66%.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In other news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 3,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 3rd. The stock was 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 trade represents a 6.39% 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, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,500 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $453.77, for a total transaction of $9,756,055.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 134,888 shares in the company, valued at approximately $61,208,127.76. This trade represents a 13.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 135,743 shares of company stock valued at $60,224,683. 0.03% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $494.00 to $550.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday. Raymond James Financial upped their price objective on Microsoft from $480.00 to $490.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $600.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $605.00 to $613.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on Microsoft from $475.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-nine have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $548.36.

Microsoft 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.