Plan Group Financial LLC Sells 586 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Plan Group Financial LLC cut its holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 23.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,895 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 586 shares during the quarter. Plan Group Financial LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $713,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Financial Council Asset Management Inc increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 3.4% during the fourth quarter. Financial Council Asset Management Inc now owns 9,861 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $3,708,000 after purchasing an additional 326 shares in the last quarter. Aspire Capital Advisors LLC increased its position in Microsoft by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. Aspire Capital Advisors LLC now owns 45,685 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $17,179,000 after buying an additional 1,215 shares in the last quarter. Adamsbrown Wealth Consultants LLC raised its stake in Microsoft by 3.9% during the fourth quarter. Adamsbrown Wealth Consultants LLC now owns 5,433 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $2,043,000 after buying an additional 204 shares during the last quarter. Graham Capital Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Graham Capital Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,570 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $966,000 after acquiring an additional 32 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Genesee Capital Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 16.8% in the fourth quarter. Genesee Capital Advisors LLC now owns 8,148 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $3,064,000 after acquiring an additional 1,170 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Microsoft Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of Microsoft stock opened at $410.54 on Thursday. 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 firm has a market cap of $3.05 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.54, a PEG ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 0.89. Microsoft Co. has a twelve month low of $306.26 and a twelve month high of $430.82. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $413.84 and a 200-day moving average price of $392.05.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The software giant reported $2.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.81 by $0.13. Microsoft had a return on equity of 37.54% and a net margin of 36.43%. The business had revenue of $61.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $60.86 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.45 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 11.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 16th will be paid a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 15th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.73%. Microsoft’s payout ratio is currently 25.97%.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In related news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,955 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $403.96, for a total value 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 $64,538,265.44. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, major shareholder Corp Microsoft sold 1,000,000 shares of Microsoft 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 11,677,398 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,770,926.10. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,955 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 159,764 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $64,538,265.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently commented on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus reissued a “buy” rating and set a $455.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $415.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on Microsoft from $475.00 to $485.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Microsoft from $480.00 to $500.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Finally, Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and set a $465.00 target price (up previously from $455.00) on shares of Microsoft in a research note 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. According to MarketBeat, Microsoft has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $452.61.

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.