Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Sold by SNS Financial Group LLC

SNS Financial Group LLC lowered its holdings in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 5.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 19,710 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 1,043 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises 0.9% of SNS Financial Group LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 21st largest holding. SNS Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $8,308,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of MSFT. Sterling Financial Planning Inc. increased its stake in Microsoft by 8.7% in the fourth quarter. Sterling Financial Planning Inc. now owns 3,714 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $1,566,000 after purchasing an additional 296 shares during the last quarter. CogentBlue Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth approximately $5,202,000. Jessup Wealth Management Inc boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 4.1% in the fourth quarter. Jessup Wealth Management Inc now owns 6,961 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $2,934,000 after acquiring an additional 277 shares during the last quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC increased its position in Microsoft by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 600,392 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $253,066,000 after purchasing an additional 8,889 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Parker Financial LLC raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Parker Financial LLC now owns 3,293 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $1,388,000 after acquiring an additional 47 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on MSFT shares. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $515.00 to $475.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Guggenheim reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday. Mizuho decreased their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $510.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $509.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, DA Davidson upgraded shares of Microsoft from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $425.00 to $450.00 in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $494.80.

Microsoft Stock Up 2.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $374.58 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $385.70 and a 200 day simple moving average of $411.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a current ratio of 1.35. The company has a market cap of $2.78 trillion, a PE ratio of 30.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.00. Microsoft Co. has a 52 week low of $344.79 and a 52 week high of $468.35.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The software giant reported $3.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.15 by $0.08. Microsoft had a return on equity of 33.36% and a net margin of 35.43%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.93 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 15th will be paid a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.89%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. Microsoft’s payout ratio is 26.73%.

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.