M3 Advisory Group LLC Sells 1,428 Shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Key Points

• M3 Advisory Group LLC has reduced its stake in Microsoft by 23.6%, now holding 4,631 shares valued at approximately $1.7 million, which constitutes about 1.4% of their portfolio.
• Microsoft reported a quarterly earnings per share of $3.65, surpassing analyst expectations of $3.35, with revenues reaching $76.44 billion, reflecting an 18.1% year-over-year increase.
• Microsoft recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.83 per share, with an ex-dividend date of August 21, translating to an annualized yield of 0.6%.

M3 Advisory Group LLC reduced its stake in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 23.6% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 4,631 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 1,428 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises 1.4% of M3 Advisory Group LLC's holdings, making the stock its 19th largest holding. M3 Advisory Group LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $1,738,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Fosun International Ltd increased its holdings in Microsoft by 0.3% in the first quarter. Fosun International Ltd now owns 6,633 shares of the software giant's stock worth $2,490,000 after purchasing an additional 23 shares in the last quarter. Retirement Financial Solutions LLC increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Retirement Financial Solutions LLC now owns 1,050 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $443,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. Kuhn & Co Investment Counsel increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Kuhn & Co Investment Counsel now owns 3,286 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $1,385,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Alliance Wealth Management Group increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Alliance Wealth Management Group now owns 5,617 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $2,368,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Guidance Point Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Guidance Point Advisors LLC now owns 4,294 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $1,811,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Westpark Capital restated a "hold" rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on Microsoft from $600.00 to $630.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on Microsoft from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday. UBS Group reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $650.00 price target (up previously from $600.00) on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Microsoft from $465.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $609.86.

Microsoft Stock Performance

MSFT traded down $9.39 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $524.11. The stock had a trading volume of 28,948,527 shares, compared to its average volume of 17,331,950. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $489.94 and its 200 day simple moving average is $434.88. Microsoft Corporation has a 1 year low of $344.79 and a 1 year high of $555.45. The stock has a market cap of $3.90 trillion, a PE ratio of 38.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a quick ratio of 1.36, a current ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12.

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

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 21st will be issued 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 yield of 0.6%. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio is 24.34%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 6,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $433.17, for a total value of $2,599,020.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 471,036 shares in the company, valued at $204,038,664.12. This represents a 1.26% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Judson Althoff sold 16,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 represents a 14.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 60,743 shares of company stock worth $27,520,933 in the last three months. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.