Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Sold by Peachtree Investment Partners LLC

Peachtree Investment Partners LLC reduced its position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 4.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 82,515 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 3,580 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises about 13.0% of Peachtree Investment Partners LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest holding. Peachtree Investment Partners LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $34,780,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MSFT. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth approximately $38,000. IFS Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 53.8% during the 4th quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 100 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Avondale Wealth Management grew its stake in Microsoft by 144.4% in the 4th quarter. Avondale Wealth Management now owns 110 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $46,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares during the period. Fairway Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Microsoft in the 4th quarter worth $62,000. Finally, Sellwood Investment Partners LLC purchased a new position in Microsoft during the fourth quarter valued at $120,000. 71.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on MSFT. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Morgan Stanley restated an "overweight" rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, June 4th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $525.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. Cantor Fitzgerald increased their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $502.00 to $512.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Guggenheim reaffirmed a "neutral" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $515.68.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Microsoft news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 75,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $436.05, for a total value of $32,703,750.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 476,999 shares of the company's stock, valued at $207,995,413.95. This trade represents a 13.59% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 3,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $463.00, for a total value of $1,389,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 43,930 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $20,339,590. This represents a 6.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 135,743 shares of company stock worth $60,224,683 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Microsoft Trading Down 0.8%

MSFT traded down $3.91 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $474.96. 16,804,288 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 21,485,191. The firm's fifty day moving average is $425.64 and its two-hundred day moving average is $418.26. Microsoft Co. has a 1-year low of $344.79 and a 1-year high of $480.42. The company has a market cap of $3.53 trillion, a PE ratio of 38.24, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.22 by $0.24. The business had revenue of $70.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $68.54 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.43% and a return on equity of 33.36%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.94 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Shareholders 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.70%. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio is presently 25.66%.

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.