Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Sold by Yardley Wealth Management LLC

Yardley Wealth Management LLC cut its holdings in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 70.4% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 880 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 2,094 shares during the period. Yardley Wealth Management LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $330,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 684,071,705 shares of the software giant's stock worth $288,336,224,000 after purchasing an additional 10,431,988 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 168,128,024 shares of the software giant's stock worth $70,720,874,000 after purchasing an additional 3,103,212 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth about $44,343,058,000. Northern Trust Corp increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 16.1% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 83,787,746 shares of the software giant's stock worth $35,316,535,000 after purchasing an additional 11,600,470 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 9.8% during the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 59,961,337 shares of the software giant's stock worth $25,273,704,000 after purchasing an additional 5,370,546 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In related news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 134,888 shares in the company, valued at approximately $61,208,127.76. This represents a 13.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,850 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $527.32, for a total value of $2,557,502.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 39,111 shares in the company, valued at $20,624,012.52. This trade represents a 11.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 46,350 shares of company stock worth $21,493,447. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Wall Street Zen upgraded Microsoft from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 2nd. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Microsoft from $530.00 to $582.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Cantor Fitzgerald boosted their price target on Microsoft from $581.00 to $639.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Loop Capital boosted their price target on Microsoft from $550.00 to $600.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Microsoft has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $609.86.

Microsoft Price Performance

MSFT stock opened at $520.58 on Thursday. Microsoft Corporation has a 1 year low of $344.79 and a 1 year high of $555.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 1.35 and a current ratio of 1.35. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $500.51 and its 200 day moving average price is $439.91. The firm has a market cap of $3.87 trillion, a P/E ratio of 38.17, a PEG ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 1.06.

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

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

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 given a $0.83 dividend. 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 0.6%. Microsoft's payout ratio is currently 24.34%.

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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding MSFT? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.