Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) is Mitchell Sinkler & Starr PA’s Largest Position

Mitchell Sinkler & Starr PA trimmed its position in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 6.0% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 61,211 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 3,911 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up approximately 6.9% of Mitchell Sinkler & Starr PA’s investment portfolio, making the stock its biggest position. Mitchell Sinkler & Starr PA’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $25,801,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of MSFT. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $38,000. IFS Advisors LLC boosted its position in Microsoft by 53.8% during the 4th quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 100 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Avondale Wealth Management lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 144.4% during the fourth quarter. Avondale Wealth Management now owns 110 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $46,000 after buying an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth $62,000. Finally, Sellwood Investment Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth about $120,000. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 75,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $436.05, for a total value of $32,703,750.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 476,999 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $207,995,413.95. This represents a 13.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 3,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $463.00, for a total transaction of $1,389,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 43,930 shares in the company, valued at $20,339,590. This trade represents a 6.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 135,743 shares of company stock worth $60,224,683. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on MSFT shares. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $525.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday, May 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Microsoft from $465.00 to $475.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Mizuho increased their target price on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Tigress Financial raised their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $550.00 to $595.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $513.13.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Microsoft stock opened at $463.87 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.45 trillion, a P/E ratio of 37.35, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.03. The business has a 50 day moving average of $413.59 and a 200-day moving average of $415.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 1.34. Microsoft Co. has a 1 year low of $344.79 and a 1 year high of $468.35.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.22 by $0.24. Microsoft had a return on equity of 33.36% and a net margin of 35.43%. The firm had revenue of $70.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $68.54 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.94 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be given a dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.72%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is currently 25.66%.

About Microsoft

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.