Romano Brothers AND Company Cuts Stake in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Romano Brothers AND Company lessened its stake in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 1.5% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 41,372 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 622 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises 2.0% of Romano Brothers AND Company's investment portfolio, making the stock its 9th biggest holding. Romano Brothers AND Company's holdings in Microsoft were worth $15,531,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Ball & Co Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at about $38,000. LSV Asset Management purchased a new stake in Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at about $44,000. Fairway Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at about $62,000. Finally, Sellwood Investment Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at about $120,000. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Wedbush raised their price target on shares of Microsoft from $515.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 25th. Mizuho raised their price target on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Benchmark restated a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Needham & Company LLC restated a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Tigress Financial raised their price target on shares of Microsoft from $550.00 to $595.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $521.14.

Microsoft Stock Performance

NASDAQ MSFT opened at $495.94 on Monday. Microsoft Corporation has a 52-week low of $344.79 and a 52-week high of $499.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 1.36 and a current ratio of 1.37. The company has a market capitalization of $3.69 trillion, a P/E ratio of 38.33, a P/E/G ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a fifty day moving average of $449.47 and a 200-day moving average of $421.74.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.22 by $0.24. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.79% and a return on equity of 32.74%. The company had revenue of $70.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $68.54 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.94 earnings per share. Microsoft's quarterly revenue was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 21st will be issued a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.67%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 21st. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.66%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Microsoft news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 1,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $460.01, for a total value of $460,010.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 47,058 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,647,150.58. This represents a 2.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, 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 transaction of $2,599,020.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 471,036 shares in the company, valued at approximately $204,038,664.12. This trade represents a 1.26% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 135,743 shares of company stock worth $60,224,683. 0.03% of the stock is currently 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.

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