Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC Cuts Stock Holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC lessened its position in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 80.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 52,644 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 221,565 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for 3.3% of Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 7th largest position. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $19,796,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MSFT. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 89.0% during the third quarter. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC now owns 223 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $70,000 after buying an additional 105 shares during the period. Authentikos Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in Microsoft in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $87,000. Family CFO Inc boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 13.6% in the 3rd quarter. Family CFO Inc now owns 359 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $113,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares during the period. Cordant Inc. grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 647.8% during the 4th quarter. Cordant Inc. now owns 344 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $129,000 after purchasing an additional 298 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Life Planning Partners Inc bought a new position in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter worth $146,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently commented on MSFT. KeyCorp started coverage on Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. They set an "overweight" rating and a $490.00 target price for the company. Stifel Nicolaus restated a "buy" rating and issued a $455.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $465.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, April 1st. Piper Sandler restated an "overweight" rating and set a $465.00 price objective (up previously from $455.00) on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Microsoft from $440.00 to $470.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-two have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $452.61.

Microsoft Trading Down 1.0 %

MSFT stock traded down $4.20 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $409.34. The company had a trading volume of 19,249,855 shares, compared to its average volume of 21,990,900. The business has a 50 day moving average of $413.84 and a 200 day moving average of $392.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a current ratio of 1.24 and a quick ratio of 1.23. The company has a market cap of $3.04 trillion, a P/E ratio of 35.44, a PEG ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 0.89. Microsoft Co. has a 52 week low of $306.09 and a 52 week high of $430.82.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The software giant reported $2.94 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.81 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $61.86 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $60.86 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 37.54% and a net margin of 36.43%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 17.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.45 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 11.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.73%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 15th. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.97%.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In related news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,955 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $403.96, for a total transaction of $8,868,941.80. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 159,764 shares of the company's stock, valued at $64,538,265.44. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Microsoft news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,955 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $403.96, for a total transaction of $8,868,941.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 159,764 shares in the company, valued at $64,538,265.44. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, major shareholder Corp Microsoft sold 1,000,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $1.95, for a total value of $1,950,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 11,677,398 shares in the company, valued at $22,770,926.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

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.