Providence Wealth Advisors LLC Lowers Stock Position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Providence Wealth Advisors LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 4.6% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 20,907 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 1,014 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for approximately 6.9% of Providence Wealth Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest position. Providence Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $8,922,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. WFA Asset Management Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 27.0% in the 1st quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 1,016 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $427,000 after acquiring an additional 216 shares in the last quarter. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. raised its position in Microsoft by 0.3% in the 2nd quarter. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. now owns 12,658 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $5,658,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Discipline Wealth Solutions LLC boosted its stake in Microsoft by 410.4% in the third quarter. Discipline Wealth Solutions LLC now owns 2,659 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,144,000 after purchasing an additional 2,138 shares in the last quarter. United Bank grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 4.1% during the third quarter. United Bank now owns 18,378 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $7,908,000 after purchasing an additional 730 shares during the last quarter. Finally, RBO & Co. LLC increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 1.6% in the third quarter. RBO & Co. LLC now owns 9,826 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $4,228,000 after buying an additional 156 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have commented on MSFT shares. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Raymond James increased their price target on shares of Microsoft from $480.00 to $490.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $500.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Microsoft from $465.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $513.13.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, EVP Amy Coleman sold 13,243 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $452.01, for a total transaction of $5,985,968.43. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 43,100 shares in the company, valued at $19,481,631. This represents a 23.50% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 75,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $436.05, for a total value of $32,703,750.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 476,999 shares in the company, valued at $207,995,413.95. This represents a 13.59% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 132,743 shares of company stock worth $58,835,683 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Stock Up 0.3%

Microsoft stock opened at $461.97 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. Microsoft Co. has a 1-year low of $344.79 and a 1-year high of $468.35. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $410.44 and a 200 day simple moving average of $415.29. The company has a market cap of $3.43 trillion, a P/E ratio of 37.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.99.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.22 by $0.24. The company had revenue of $70.07 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $68.54 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.43% and a return on equity of 33.36%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.94 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be issued a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.72%. Microsoft’s payout ratio is 25.66%.

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.