Mount Vernon Associates Inc. MD Sells 303 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Mount Vernon Associates Inc. MD lowered its stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 1.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 21,577 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 303 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises about 8.0% of Mount Vernon Associates Inc. MD’s portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest holding. Mount Vernon Associates Inc. MD’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $8,114,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of MSFT. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 89.0% in the 3rd quarter. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC now owns 223 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $70,000 after buying an additional 105 shares in the last quarter. Authentikos Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new position in Microsoft during the third quarter worth about $87,000. Family CFO Inc raised its position in Microsoft by 13.6% in the third quarter. Family CFO Inc now owns 359 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $113,000 after acquiring an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. Cordant Inc. lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 647.8% in the 4th quarter. Cordant Inc. now owns 344 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $129,000 after acquiring an additional 298 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Life Planning Partners Inc acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft in the 4th quarter worth approximately $146,000. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 3,303 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $406.12, for a total value of $1,341,414.36. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 570,826 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $231,823,855.12. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 3,303 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $406.12, for a total value of $1,341,414.36. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 570,826 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $231,823,855.12. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Corp Microsoft sold 1,000,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $1.95, for a total transaction of $1,950,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 11,677,398 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,770,926.10. 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 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently commented on MSFT. Raymond James reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $480.00 target price (up from $450.00) on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Friday, April 26th. KeyCorp began coverage on Microsoft in a report on Thursday, March 21st. They set an “overweight” rating and a $490.00 target price for the company. Macquarie lifted their price target on Microsoft from $430.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $465.00 to $489.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Finally, Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $500.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-two have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $452.61.

Microsoft Stock Performance

MSFT opened at $406.66 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a current ratio of 1.24. The company has a market cap 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. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $413.68 and a 200-day moving average of $390.05. Microsoft Co. has a 52-week low of $303.40 and a 52-week high of $430.82.

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 return on equity of 37.54% and a net margin of 36.43%. The firm had revenue of $61.86 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $60.86 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.45 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 17.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 11.76 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 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 16th will be issued a $0.75 dividend. 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 (DPR) is presently 25.97%.

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.