Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Sold by Wedge Capital Management L L P NC

Wedge Capital Management L L P NC lessened its stake in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 1.8% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 155,298 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 2,824 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for approximately 1.1% of Wedge Capital Management L L P NC's portfolio, making the stock its 5th largest position. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $58,297,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. boosted its stake in Microsoft by 203.7% in the first quarter. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. now owns 126,800 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $47,599,000 after acquiring an additional 85,048 shares in the last quarter. One Plus One Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Microsoft by 3.4% in the first quarter. One Plus One Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,313 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $1,244,000 after acquiring an additional 110 shares in the last quarter. Professional Advisory Services Inc. boosted its stake in Microsoft by 7.0% in the first quarter. Professional Advisory Services Inc. now owns 94,197 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $35,361,000 after acquiring an additional 6,197 shares in the last quarter. Greenspring Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Microsoft by 12.3% in the first quarter. Greenspring Advisors LLC now owns 6,697 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $2,514,000 after acquiring an additional 733 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kennebec Savings Bank boosted its stake in Microsoft by 4.3% in the first quarter. Kennebec Savings Bank now owns 13,381 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $5,023,000 after acquiring an additional 546 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MSFT has been the subject of a number of research reports. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $525.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Friday, May 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Bank of America reduced their target price on shares of Microsoft from $510.00 to $480.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Evercore ISI set a $515.00 target price on shares of Microsoft and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Finally, KeyCorp reaffirmed a "sector weight" rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $524.71.

Microsoft Trading Down 0.2%

Shares of MSFT opened at $497.72 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The firm's 50-day moving average is $463.54 and its two-hundred day moving average is $423.91. Microsoft Corporation has a twelve month low of $344.79 and a twelve month high of $500.76. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.70 trillion, a P/E ratio of 38.46, a PEG ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 1.04.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $68.54 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.94 EPS. The company's revenue was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 3,000 shares of the firm's 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 transaction, the executive vice president directly 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $453.77, for a total transaction 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 135,743 shares of company stock worth $60,224,683. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by 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.

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