Spectrum Planning & Advisory Services Inc. Trims Stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Posted by Defense World Staff on Jul 11th, 2023

Spectrum Planning & Advisory Services Inc. reduced its stake in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT – Free Report) by 14.6% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,078 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 698 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for 1.9% of Spectrum Planning & Advisory Services Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 12th largest position. Spectrum Planning & Advisory Services Inc.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $1,176,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Activest Wealth Management purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the first quarter valued at approximately $540,000. Affiance Financial LLC lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 0.3% in the 1st quarter. Affiance Financial LLC now owns 10,362 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $2,988,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. Relyea Zuckerberg Hanson LLC lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 20.4% in the 1st quarter. Relyea Zuckerberg Hanson LLC now owns 25,703 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $7,410,000 after purchasing an additional 4,357 shares during the last quarter. Vantage Investment Partners LLC lifted its stake in Microsoft by 3.2% during the 1st quarter. Vantage Investment Partners LLC now owns 100,995 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $28,763,000 after acquiring an additional 3,089 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ellenbecker Investment Group increased its holdings in Microsoft by 1.1% during the 1st quarter. Ellenbecker Investment Group now owns 9,678 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $2,790,000 after purchasing an additional 106 shares during the period. 72.20% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Microsoft Stock Down 1.6 %

NASDAQ MSFT opened at $331.83 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.91, a quick ratio of 1.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $326.82 and its two-hundred day moving average is $284.54. The company has a market capitalization of $2.47 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.95, a PEG ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 0.92. Microsoft Co. has a 1-year low of $213.43 and a 1-year high of $351.47.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT – Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 25th. The software giant reported $2.45 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.22 by $0.23. The company had revenue of $52.86 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $51.01 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 38.98% and a net margin of 33.25%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.22 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 9.64 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 14th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 17th will be issued a dividend of $0.68 per share. This represents a $2.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.82%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, August 16th. Microsoft’s payout ratio is 29.47%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on Microsoft from $325.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 26th. Atlantic Securities raised their target price on Microsoft from $290.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 26th. Bank of America raised their target price on Microsoft from $320.00 to $340.00 in a research report on Wednesday, April 26th. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on Microsoft from $337.00 to $400.00 in a research report on Friday, June 2nd. Finally, Raymond James lifted their price target on Microsoft from $310.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and thirty-one have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Microsoft has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $335.40.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other news, EVP Judson Althoff sold 30,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $306.09, for a total value of $9,182,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 117,456 shares in the company, valued at $35,952,107.04. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Microsoft news, EVP Judson Althoff sold 30,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $306.09, for a total transaction of $9,182,700.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 117,456 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $35,952,107.04. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Teri List sold 1,250 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $334.77, for a total transaction of $418,462.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 874 shares in the company, valued at $292,588.98. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 51,331 shares of company stock valued at $15,867,278. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Microsoft Company Profile

(Free Report)

Microsoft Corporation develops, licenses, and supports software, services, devices, and solutions worldwide. The company operates in three segments: Productivity and Business Processes, Intelligent Cloud, and More Personal Computing. The Productivity and Business Processes segment offers Office, Exchange, SharePoint, Microsoft Teams, Office 365 Security and Compliance, Microsoft Viva, and Skype for Business; Skype, Outlook.com, OneDrive, and LinkedIn; and Dynamics 365, a set of cloud-based and on-premises business solutions for organizations and enterprise divisions.