Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Sold by SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC

SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC trimmed its position in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 0.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 89,863 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 684 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up about 4.1% of SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 2nd biggest holding. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $33,047,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Microsoft by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 634,238,715 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $147,714,197,000 after purchasing an additional 6,129,708 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its holdings in Microsoft by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 295,509,547 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $68,824,173,000 after purchasing an additional 1,951,554 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its holdings in Microsoft by 2.7% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 215,874,152 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $68,162,263,000 after purchasing an additional 5,762,902 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its holdings in Microsoft by 0.3% in the 2nd quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 195,859,819 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $50,302,677,000 after purchasing an additional 556,020 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Microsoft by 112,158.6% in the 4th 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. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Microsoft Stock Performance

MSFT opened at $421.90 on Friday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $415.19 and its 200-day moving average is $381.58. The stock has a market cap of $3.13 trillion, a PE ratio of 38.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a current ratio of 1.22, a quick ratio of 1.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19. Microsoft Co. has a twelve month low of $275.37 and a twelve month high of $430.82.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 30th. The software giant reported $2.93 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.76 by $0.17. The company had revenue of $62.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $61.14 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 38.40% and a net margin of 36.27%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.32 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 11.61 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 15th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.71%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is presently 27.12%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on MSFT. DA Davidson restated a “buy” rating and set a $500.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Friday, March 15th. Barclays raised their target price on Microsoft from $421.00 to $475.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. BNP Paribas upgraded Microsoft from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $471.00 target price for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 18th. KeyCorp began coverage on Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. They set an “overweight” rating and a $490.00 target price for the company. Finally, UBS Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $480.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $430.52.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In related news, major shareholder Corp Microsoft sold 1,000,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $1.95, for a total transaction of $1,950,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 11,677,398 shares in the company, valued at $22,770,926.10. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,955 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 159,764 shares in the company, valued at $64,538,265.44. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Corp Microsoft sold 1,000,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $1.95, for a total transaction of $1,950,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 11,677,398 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,770,926.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 1,070,258 shares of company stock worth $30,690,456 over the last quarter. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.