Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Sold by Center for Financial Planning Inc.

Key Points

• Center for Financial Planning Inc. has reduced its holdings in Microsoft by 20.7%, selling 6,193 shares and now holding a total of 23,731 shares.
• Microsoft reported a quarterly EPS of $3.65, surpassing analysts' expectations, and has seen a revenue increase of 18.1% year-over-year.
• The company has announced a quarterly dividend of $0.83 per share, with a yield of 0.65%, to be paid on September 11th.

Center for Financial Planning Inc. trimmed its position in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 20.7% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 23,731 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 6,193 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for approximately 1.1% of Center for Financial Planning Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 9th biggest holding. Center for Financial Planning Inc.'s holdings in Microsoft were worth $8,909,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in MSFT. WFA Asset Management Corp grew its position in Microsoft by 27.0% during the 1st quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 1,016 shares of the software giant's stock worth $427,000 after purchasing an additional 216 shares during the period. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 0.3% during the 2nd quarter. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. now owns 12,658 shares of the software giant's stock worth $5,658,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Discipline Wealth Solutions LLC boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 410.4% during the 3rd quarter. Discipline Wealth Solutions LLC now owns 2,659 shares of the software giant's stock worth $1,144,000 after acquiring an additional 2,138 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Group Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Wealth Group Ltd. now owns 2,374 shares of the software giant's stock worth $1,000,000 after acquiring an additional 28 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tallon Kerry Patrick purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth about $1,375,000. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In related news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 6,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $433.17, for a total value of $2,599,020.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 471,036 shares in the company, valued at approximately $204,038,664.12. This trade represents a 1.26% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 43,930 shares of the company's stock, valued at $20,339,590. This trade represents a 6.39% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 60,743 shares of company stock worth $27,520,933 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Microsoft Trading Down 1.8%

Shares of MSFT stock traded down $9.39 during trading on Friday, hitting $524.11. 28,948,527 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 17,331,950. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.90 trillion, a P/E ratio of 38.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 1.36. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $488.46 and its 200-day moving average price is $434.13. Microsoft Corporation has a 52-week low of $344.79 and a 52-week high of $555.45.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $3.65 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.35 by $0.30. The firm had revenue of $76.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $73.79 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 36.15% and a return on equity of 32.44%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 18.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.95 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 21st will be issued a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 21st. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 24.34%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MSFT has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on shares of Microsoft from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday. Cantor Fitzgerald increased their target price on shares of Microsoft from $581.00 to $639.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their target price on shares of Microsoft from $525.00 to $640.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their target price on shares of Microsoft from $540.00 to $637.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Piper Sandler raised their price target on shares of Microsoft from $600.00 to $650.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $609.86.

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.