Ascension Capital Advisors Inc. Decreases Stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Ascension Capital Advisors Inc. cut its position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 12.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,459 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 799 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for 1.3% of Ascension Capital Advisors Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 15th largest holding. Ascension Capital Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $2,053,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Lodestone Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 0.5% in the third quarter. Lodestone Wealth Management LLC now owns 14,103 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $4,453,000 after purchasing an additional 68 shares in the last quarter. McBroom & Associates LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 3.3% in the 3rd quarter. McBroom & Associates LLC now owns 19,769 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $6,242,000 after buying an additional 623 shares in the last quarter. Community Trust & Investment Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 4.6% in the 3rd quarter. Community Trust & Investment Co. now owns 213,733 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $67,486,000 after buying an additional 9,478 shares in the last quarter. Traynor Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in Microsoft by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Traynor Capital Management Inc. now owns 39,602 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $12,504,000 after acquiring an additional 245 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Essex LLC lifted its position in Microsoft by 3.5% in the third quarter. Essex LLC now owns 17,626 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $5,565,000 after acquiring an additional 592 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In related news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,955 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $403.96, for a total transaction of $8,868,941.80. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 159,764 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $64,538,265.44. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, major shareholder Corp Microsoft sold 1,000,000 shares of the company’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 of the company’s stock, valued at $22,770,926.10. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,955 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $403.96, for a total transaction of $8,868,941.80. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 159,764 shares in the company, valued at approximately $64,538,265.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 1,025,258 shares of company stock valued at $12,160,356 over the last three months. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Microsoft Trading Up 2.2 %

NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $406.66 on Friday. Microsoft Co. has a 52-week low of $303.40 and a 52-week high of $430.82. The company has a quick ratio of 1.23, a current ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $413.68 and a 200-day simple moving average of $390.05. The company has a market capitalization of $3.02 trillion, a PE ratio of 35.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 0.89.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The software giant reported $2.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $60.86 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.45 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 17.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 11.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

MSFT has been the topic of several research reports. Stifel Nicolaus reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $455.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Microsoft from $465.00 to $520.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Raymond James reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $480.00 price objective (up from $450.00) on shares of Microsoft in a report on Friday, April 26th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $480.00 to $500.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Microsoft from $440.00 to $470.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $452.61.

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.