Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Sold by Opal Wealth Advisors LLC

Opal Wealth Advisors LLC trimmed its stake in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 9.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 10,874 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 1,087 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises 1.6% of Opal Wealth Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 14th largest position. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $4,089,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position 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 acquiring an additional 6,129,708 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its position 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 acquiring an additional 1,951,554 shares during the period. FMR LLC increased its position 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 acquiring an additional 5,762,902 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its position 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 acquiring an additional 556,020 shares during the period. Finally, Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC increased its position 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 acquiring an additional 150,053,637 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 3,303 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 570,826 shares in the company, valued at $231,823,855.12. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 3,303 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 570,826 shares in the company, valued at $231,823,855.12. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 45,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $411.78, for a total value of $18,530,100.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 574,129 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $236,414,839.62. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 1,070,258 shares of company stock worth $30,690,456. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of Microsoft stock opened at $411.84 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $3.06 trillion, a PE ratio of 37.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.89. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $415.48 and a 200-day simple moving average of $384.15. The company has a quick ratio of 1.20, a current ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19. Microsoft Co. has a 12 month low of $275.37 and a 12 month high of $430.82.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 30th. The software giant reported $2.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.76 by $0.17. Microsoft had a return on equity of 38.40% and a net margin of 36.27%. The business had revenue of $62.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $61.14 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.32 earnings per share. Microsoft’s quarterly revenue was up 17.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 11.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

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 is Wednesday, May 15th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.73%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is 27.12%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently commented on MSFT shares. KeyCorp started coverage on Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $490.00 target price on the stock. DA Davidson reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $500.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Friday, March 15th. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $500.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Morgan Stanley increased 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. Finally, Macquarie increased their price target on Microsoft from $430.00 to $450.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $431.03.

Microsoft 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.