Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Sold by Wedmont Private Capital

Wedmont Private Capital lowered its position in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 1.8% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 99,061 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 1,822 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for approximately 1.9% of Wedmont Private Capital's portfolio, making the stock its 12th largest position. Wedmont Private Capital's holdings in Microsoft were worth $38,480,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Ball & Co Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at $31,000. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at $38,000. LSV Asset Management acquired a new position in Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at $44,000. IFS Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Microsoft by 50.0% in the first quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 150 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $57,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fairway Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth about $62,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on MSFT shares. Morgan Stanley reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $530.00 target price (up previously from $482.00) on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Microsoft from $465.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Wedbush increased their target price 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. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Microsoft from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, June 30th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Microsoft from $565.00 to $585.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 25th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $527.31.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $433.17, for a total value of $2,599,020.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 471,036 shares in the company, valued at $204,038,664.12. This represents a 1.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 98,010 shares in the company, valued at $44,906,221.80. This represents a 14.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 135,743 shares of company stock valued at $60,224,683. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Microsoft Price Performance

Microsoft stock traded up $6.89 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $503.51. The company had a trading volume of 18,638,093 shares, compared to its average volume of 21,685,666. Microsoft Corporation has a 1 year low of $344.79 and a 1 year high of $506.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 1.37 and a quick ratio of 1.36. The company has a market capitalization of $3.74 trillion, a P/E ratio of 38.91, a P/E/G ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 1.04. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $465.60 and its 200-day simple moving average is $424.41.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $68.54 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.94 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced 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. 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 0.66%. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.