Sheets Smith Wealth Management Has $5.84 Million Holdings in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Sheets Smith Wealth Management cut its holdings in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 21.0% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 15,547 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 4,137 shares during the quarter. Sheets Smith Wealth Management's holdings in Microsoft were worth $5,836,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

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

Microsoft Trading Down 1.8%

MSFT opened at $524.11 on Monday. Microsoft Corporation has a one year low of $344.79 and a one year high of $555.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.90 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.42, a PEG ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.06. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $489.94 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $435.01. 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 the consensus estimate of $3.35 by $0.30. Microsoft had a return on equity of 32.44% and a net margin of 36.15%. The firm had revenue of $76.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $73.79 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.95 EPS. The business's revenue was up 18.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 0.6%. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio is currently 24.34%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently commented on MSFT. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on Microsoft from $550.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday. Bank of America boosted their target price on Microsoft from $585.00 to $640.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on Microsoft from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, July 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Microsoft from $465.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Mizuho upped their price objective on Microsoft from $540.00 to $625.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Microsoft currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $609.86.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In other news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $453.77, for a total value of $9,756,055.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 134,888 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $61,208,127.76. This represents a 13.75% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 3,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 43,930 shares in the company, valued at $20,339,590. The trade was a 6.39% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 54,743 shares of company stock worth $24,921,913 over the last 90 days. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by 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.

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