Naviter Wealth LLC Lowers Holdings in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Naviter Wealth LLC reduced its holdings in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 3.6% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 55,210 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 2,080 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up 2.5% of Naviter Wealth LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 5th biggest position. Naviter Wealth LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $20,914,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Prakash Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 2.4% during the first quarter. Prakash Investment Advisors LLC now owns 7,291 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $2,737,000 after buying an additional 170 shares during the last quarter. L.K. Benson & Company P.C. raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 17.3% during the first quarter. L.K. Benson & Company P.C. now owns 1,592 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $598,000 after buying an additional 235 shares during the last quarter. Emerald Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 4.0% during the first quarter. Emerald Advisors LLC now owns 11,782 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $4,423,000 after buying an additional 456 shares during the last quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 50.5% during the first quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC now owns 24,096 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $9,054,000 after buying an additional 8,087 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sovran Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 50.3% during the first quarter. Sovran Advisors LLC now owns 36,610 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $13,464,000 after buying an additional 12,254 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on MSFT shares. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on Microsoft from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, July 28th. Scotiabank boosted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Raymond James Financial boosted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $490.00 to $570.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, July 28th. Cantor Fitzgerald boosted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $581.00 to $639.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $600.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $609.86.

Microsoft Stock Performance

MSFT stock traded up $1.46 on Thursday, reaching $522.04. 13,172,430 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 22,226,391. Microsoft Corporation has a 12 month low of $344.79 and a 12 month high of $555.45. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $500.51 and its 200 day moving average price is $439.91. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.88 trillion, a PE ratio of 38.24, a PEG ratio of 2.32 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 1.35.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results 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. Microsoft had a net margin of 36.15% and a return on equity of 32.44%. The business had revenue of $76.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $73.79 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.95 earnings per share. Microsoft's revenue was up 18.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 EPS 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 given 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 payout ratio is 24.34%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Microsoft news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,850 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $527.32, for a total value of $2,557,502.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 39,111 shares of the company's stock, valued at $20,624,012.52. The trade was a 11.03% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on 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 $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 quarter, insiders have sold 46,350 shares of company stock valued at $21,493,447. 0.03% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Microsoft Company 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.