Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) Position Lowered by Janney Montgomery Scott LLC

Janney Montgomery Scott LLC lessened its stake in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 0.4% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,088,126 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 8,085 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises approximately 2.2% of Janney Montgomery Scott LLC's holdings, making the stock its 3rd biggest holding. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $783,862,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Ball & Co Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft during the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at about $38,000. LSV Asset Management acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at about $44,000. IFS Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 50.0% in the 1st quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 150 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $57,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fairway Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at about $62,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of MSFT stock traded down $4.79 on Tuesday, reaching $505.27. The company had a trading volume of 13,296,705 shares, compared to its average volume of 21,554,989. The business's 50-day moving average is $477.78 and its 200 day moving average is $428.61. Microsoft Corporation has a one year low of $344.79 and a one year high of $514.64. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $3.76 trillion, a PE ratio of 39.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 1.04.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.22 by $0.24. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.79% and a return on equity of 32.74%. The company had revenue of $70.07 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $68.54 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.94 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 21st will be given a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.66%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 21st. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio is presently 25.66%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have commented on MSFT shares. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of Microsoft from $485.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. TD Securities upped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $490.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $600.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. Finally, Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Microsoft from $605.00 to $613.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Microsoft presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $544.07.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, 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 completion of the transaction, the insider owned 471,036 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $204,038,664.12. The trade was a 1.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Judson Althoff sold 16,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $458.18, for a total value of $7,330,880.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 98,010 shares of the company's stock, valued at $44,906,221.80. The trade was a 14.03% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 135,743 shares of company stock worth $60,224,683 in the last quarter. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.