ACT Wealth Management LLC lowered its stake in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT – Free Report) by 5.3% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 4,292 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 238 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises 0.8% of ACT Wealth Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 13th largest holding. ACT Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $1,462,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MSFT. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in Microsoft by 112,158.6% during the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 150,187,424 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $36,017,948,000 after purchasing an additional 150,053,637 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Microsoft during the fourth quarter valued at about $20,700,525,000. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in Microsoft by 35,465.9% during the first quarter. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 20,611,140 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $66,852,000 after purchasing an additional 20,553,188 shares in the last quarter. Providence Capital Advisors LLC boosted its position in Microsoft by 29,789.2% during the first quarter. Providence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 16,570,893 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $57,477,000 after purchasing an additional 16,515,452 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted its position in Microsoft by 14.0% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 119,417,954 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $28,638,815,000 after purchasing an additional 14,652,150 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 69.20% of the company’s stock.
Analyst Ratings Changes
A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. Redburn Partners decreased their price target on Microsoft from $450.00 to $440.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 11th. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $400.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Monday. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Microsoft from $335.00 to $415.00 in a research note on Thursday, July 6th. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price target on Microsoft from $398.00 to $400.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 20th. Finally, KeyCorp increased their price target on Microsoft from $340.00 to $400.00 in a research note on Tuesday, July 18th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-four have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $376.34.
Microsoft Stock Performance
Shares of NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $321.80 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 1.77 and a quick ratio of 1.75. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $326.57 and its 200-day moving average price is $318.77. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.39 trillion, a PE ratio of 33.21, a P/E/G ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 0.91. Microsoft Co. has a 1 year low of $213.43 and a 1 year high of $366.78.
Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT – Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 25th. The software giant reported $2.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.55 by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $56.19 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $55.49 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 38.70% and a net margin of 34.15%. The business’s revenue was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.23 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 10.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Microsoft Increases Dividend
The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 14th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 16th will be paid a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 15th. This is a positive change from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.93%. Microsoft’s payout ratio is currently 28.07%.
Insider Transactions at Microsoft
In other Microsoft news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 50,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $337.20, for a total transaction of $16,860,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 588,084 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $198,301,924.80. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other Microsoft news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 50,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $337.20, for a total transaction of $16,860,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 588,084 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $198,301,924.80. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Satya Nadella sold 38,234 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $328.43, for a total value of $12,557,192.62. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 800,668 shares in the company, valued at approximately $262,963,391.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 115,049 shares of company stock valued at $38,195,619 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.
About Microsoft
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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