WNY Asset Management LLC Lowers Position in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)

WNY Asset Management LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 4.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 13,831 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 629 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises approximately 0.7% of WNY Asset Management LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 26th largest holding. WNY Asset Management LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $5,830,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Fidelity D & D Bancorp Inc. increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 4.3% in the 4th quarter. Fidelity D & D Bancorp Inc. now owns 8,459 shares of the software giant's stock worth $3,565,000 after acquiring an additional 350 shares during the last quarter. Putney Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth about $5,925,000. Aurdan Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth about $2,685,000. PVG Asset Management Corp acquired a new position in Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth approximately $542,000. Finally, Perennial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth approximately $31,589,000. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Microsoft news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 1,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $460.01, for a total value of $460,010.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 47,058 shares of the company's stock, valued at $21,647,150.58. The trade was a 2.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 6,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $433.17, for a total value of $2,599,020.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 471,036 shares of the company's stock, valued at $204,038,664.12. This represents a 1.26% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 135,743 shares of company stock worth $60,224,683 in the last three months. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Microsoft Trading Up 0.5%

Shares of NASDAQ MSFT opened at $480.24 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $3.57 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.03. Microsoft Corporation has a 12-month low of $344.79 and a 12-month high of $481.00. The company has a current ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $436.07 and its 200 day simple moving average is $420.16.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.22 by $0.24. Microsoft had a return on equity of 32.74% and a net margin of 35.79%. The firm had revenue of $70.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $68.54 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.94 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 21st will be given a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.69%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 21st. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.66%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Benchmark reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Wells Fargo & Company restated an "overweight" rating and issued a $565.00 price objective (up from $515.00) on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday, June 13th. Cantor Fitzgerald upped their price objective on Microsoft from $502.00 to $512.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Morgan Stanley reiterated an "overweight" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday, June 4th. Finally, Raymond James Financial upped their target price on Microsoft from $480.00 to $490.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $515.68.

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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