Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) Stock Holdings Decreased by Sowell Financial Services LLC

Sowell Financial Services LLC reduced its holdings in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 1.6% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 153,594 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 2,558 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises 2.6% of Sowell Financial Services LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest position. Sowell Financial Services LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $57,658,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in MSFT. WFA Asset Management Corp boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 27.0% in the first quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 1,016 shares of the software giant's stock worth $427,000 after acquiring an additional 216 shares in the last quarter. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. raised 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 purchasing an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Discipline Wealth Solutions LLC raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 410.4% in the third quarter. Discipline Wealth Solutions LLC now owns 2,659 shares of the software giant's stock worth $1,144,000 after purchasing an additional 2,138 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Group Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Wealth Group Ltd. now owns 2,374 shares of the software giant's stock worth $1,000,000 after purchasing an additional 28 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tallon Kerry Patrick purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter worth $1,375,000. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 3,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 directly owned 43,930 shares in the company, valued at $20,339,590. This represents a 6.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $453.77, for a total value of $9,756,055.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president 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 90 days, insiders sold 135,743 shares of company stock valued at $60,224,683. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Microsoft Price Performance

Microsoft stock traded up $4.35 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $510.22. 4,173,165 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 22,190,793. The stock's fifty day moving average is $481.17 and its 200-day moving average is $430.27. Microsoft Corporation has a 12 month low of $344.79 and a 12 month high of $514.64. The stock has a market cap of $3.79 trillion, a P/E ratio of 39.43, a PEG ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a quick ratio of 1.36, a current ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12.

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

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The business 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 dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 21st. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.65%. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.66%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on MSFT shares. Barclays boosted their price target on Microsoft from $494.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on Microsoft from $485.00 to $550.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Wall Street Zen cut Microsoft from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, June 30th. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $525.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday, May 23rd. Finally, Oppenheimer upgraded Microsoft from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $600.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Microsoft currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $548.36.

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.