Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Sold by Meredith Wealth Planning

Meredith Wealth Planning reduced its position in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 6.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,514 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 160 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises about 0.6% of Meredith Wealth Planning’s holdings, making the stock its 22nd largest holding. Meredith Wealth Planning’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $945,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Lodestone Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 0.5% in the third quarter. Lodestone Wealth Management LLC now owns 14,103 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $4,453,000 after acquiring an additional 68 shares in the last quarter. Dechtman Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Microsoft by 67.6% during the 3rd quarter. Dechtman Wealth Management LLC now owns 8,259 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $2,608,000 after purchasing an additional 3,330 shares in the last quarter. City State Bank increased its holdings in Microsoft by 3.5% during the 3rd quarter. City State Bank now owns 13,198 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $4,167,000 after purchasing an additional 447 shares during the period. Bard Financial Services Inc. raised its position in Microsoft by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. Bard Financial Services Inc. now owns 193,348 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $61,050,000 after purchasing an additional 1,295 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Powell Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 25.6% in the 3rd quarter. Powell Investment Advisors LLC now owns 4,067 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $1,284,000 after buying an additional 829 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MSFT has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Raymond James reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $480.00 price target (up previously from $450.00) on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Microsoft from $465.00 to $520.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on Microsoft from $450.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Barclays upped their price target on Microsoft from $421.00 to $475.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $465.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 1st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $452.61.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of MSFT opened at $406.66 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.23, a current ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17. Microsoft Co. has a 52-week low of $303.40 and a 52-week high of $430.82. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $413.76 and a 200-day simple moving average of $389.54. The company has a market capitalization of $3.02 trillion, a PE ratio of 35.21, a P/E/G ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 0.89.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The software giant reported $2.94 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.81 by $0.13. Microsoft had a net margin of 36.43% and a return on equity of 37.54%. The company had revenue of $61.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $60.86 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.45 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 11.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 15th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.74%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is presently 25.97%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,955 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $403.96, for a total value 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 SEC, which is available at this link. In related news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,955 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $403.96, for a total value of $8,868,941.80. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 159,764 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $64,538,265.44. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 3,303 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $406.12, for a total transaction of $1,341,414.36. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 570,826 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $231,823,855.12. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 1,025,258 shares of company stock worth $12,160,356. 0.03% of the stock is owned by corporate 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.