Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Position Cut by S.E.E.D. Planning Group LLC

S.E.E.D. Planning Group LLC lowered its position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 8.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 26,113 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 2,464 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up approximately 4.0% of S.E.E.D. Planning Group LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 3rd biggest position. S.E.E.D. Planning Group LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $9,819,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Lodestone Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Microsoft by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Lodestone Wealth Management LLC now owns 14,103 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $4,453,000 after acquiring an additional 68 shares during the period. Impact Partnership Wealth LLC raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 133.9% during the third quarter. Impact Partnership Wealth LLC now owns 6,272 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,980,000 after purchasing an additional 3,591 shares during the last quarter. Atlas Brown Inc. raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 0.9% during the third quarter. Atlas Brown Inc. now owns 22,620 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $7,142,000 after purchasing an additional 209 shares during the last quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 38.6% during the third quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 34,013 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $10,740,000 after purchasing an additional 9,480 shares during the period. Finally, 1900 Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Microsoft by 23.0% in the 3rd quarter. 1900 Wealth Management LLC now owns 14,047 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $4,435,000 after buying an additional 2,629 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of MSFT opened at $406.66 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a current ratio of 1.24 and a quick ratio of 1.23. The company has a market cap of $3.02 trillion, a P/E ratio of 35.21, a PEG ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 0.89. Microsoft Co. has a 12 month low of $303.40 and a 12 month high of $430.82. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $413.68 and a 200 day moving average price of $390.88.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The software giant reported $2.94 earnings per share 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 business had revenue of $61.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $60.86 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.45 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 11.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The firm 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 $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.74%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 15th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 25.97%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently commented on MSFT. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of Microsoft from $415.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. BNP Paribas upgraded Microsoft from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $471.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 18th. DA Davidson reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $500.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a report on Friday, March 15th. Macquarie increased their price objective on Microsoft from $430.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $480.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Three investment 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 company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $452.61.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,955 shares of the business’s 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 159,764 shares in the company, valued at approximately $64,538,265.44. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Microsoft news, major shareholder Corp Microsoft sold 1,000,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 11,677,398 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,770,926.10. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,955 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $403.96, for a total transaction of $8,868,941.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 159,764 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $64,538,265.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.03% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.