Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Sold by Sunbelt Securities Inc.

Key Points

• Sunbelt Securities Inc. has reduced its stake in Microsoft Corporation by 1.4%, now holding 69,393 shares valued at approximately $26 million.
• Several institutional investors have made adjustments to their Microsoft holdings, with WFA Asset Management Corp increasing their position by 27% during the first quarter.
• Microsoft recently reported quarterly earnings of $3.65 EPS, exceeding analyst estimates and showing an 18.1% year-over-year revenue growth to $76.44 billion.

Sunbelt Securities Inc. lessened its stake in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 1.4% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 69,393 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 1,016 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises approximately 2.3% of Sunbelt Securities Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest holding. Sunbelt Securities Inc.'s holdings in Microsoft were worth $26,049,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. WFA Asset Management Corp boosted its stake in shares of 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 during the last quarter. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. lifted its position in Microsoft by 0.3% during the second quarter. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. now owns 12,658 shares of the software giant's stock worth $5,658,000 after buying an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Discipline Wealth Solutions LLC boosted its stake in Microsoft by 410.4% during the third quarter. Discipline Wealth Solutions LLC now owns 2,659 shares of the software giant's stock worth $1,144,000 after buying an additional 2,138 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Group Ltd. grew its holdings 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 valued at $1,000,000 after purchasing an additional 28 shares during the period. Finally, Tallon Kerry Patrick purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,375,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of MSFT stock traded up $1.20 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $522.04. The stock had a trading volume of 15,514,819 shares, compared to its average volume of 19,782,852. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 1.35. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $496.85 and its 200-day simple moving average is $438.17. Microsoft Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $344.79 and a fifty-two week high of $555.45. The firm has a market cap of $3.88 trillion, a PE ratio of 38.27, a PEG ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 1.06.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $3.65 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 company had revenue of $76.44 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $73.79 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.95 earnings per share. Microsoft's quarterly revenue was up 18.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.6%. Microsoft's payout ratio is 24.34%.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In other news, EVP Judson Althoff sold 16,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 98,010 shares in the company, valued at $44,906,221.80. This trade represents a 14.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $453.77, for a total transaction of $9,756,055.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 134,888 shares in the company, valued at approximately $61,208,127.76. The trade was a 13.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 54,743 shares of company stock worth $24,921,913 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MSFT has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of Microsoft from $480.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. DA Davidson lifted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $600.00 to $650.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Cantor Fitzgerald increased 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. Barclays boosted their price objective on Microsoft from $550.00 to $625.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $515.00 to $545.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, July 25th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $609.86.

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.