Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) is Wambolt & Associates LLC's 3rd Largest Position

Wambolt & Associates LLC cut its holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 17.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 26,711 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 5,467 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for approximately 3.6% of Wambolt & Associates LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest position. Wambolt & Associates LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $11,259,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth about $38,000. IFS Advisors LLC raised its position in Microsoft by 53.8% in the fourth quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 100 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares during the period. Avondale Wealth Management lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 144.4% during the fourth quarter. Avondale Wealth Management now owns 110 shares of the software giant's stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth $62,000. Finally, Kieckhefer Group LLC acquired a new stake in Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $141,000. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on MSFT. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Microsoft from $430.00 to $494.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Wedbush reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Wall Street Zen upgraded Microsoft from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. Needham & Company LLC reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. 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 research note on Thursday, May 1st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $513.13.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Microsoft news, EVP Judson Althoff sold 16,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $458.18, for a total transaction of $7,330,880.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 98,010 shares in the company, valued at $44,906,221.80. This represents a 14.03% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 1,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $460.01, for a total transaction of $460,010.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 47,058 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $21,647,150.58. This trade represents a 2.08% decrease in their position. 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 three months. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ MSFT traded up $1.87 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $465.74. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,121,676 shares, compared to its average volume of 21,403,889. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The company has a market cap of $3.46 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $413.59 and a 200 day moving average price of $415.95. Microsoft Co. has a one year low of $344.79 and a one year high of $468.35.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.22 by $0.24. Microsoft had a return on equity of 33.36% and a net margin of 35.43%. The business had revenue of $70.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $68.54 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.94 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be given a dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.71%. Microsoft's payout ratio is 25.66%.

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.