Outlook Wealth Advisors LLC Trims Stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Outlook Wealth Advisors LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 1.0% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 7,683 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 81 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up 1.0% of Outlook Wealth Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 23rd largest holding. Outlook Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $3,232,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of MSFT. Friedenthal Financial bought a new stake in Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth approximately $45,000. Neo Ivy Capital Management bought a new position in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter worth approximately $58,000. Richardson Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 1,290.0% in the first quarter. Richardson Capital Management LLC now owns 139 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $59,000 after purchasing an additional 129 shares in the last quarter. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 89.0% during the 3rd quarter. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC now owns 223 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $70,000 after purchasing an additional 105 shares during the period. Finally, PayPay Securities Corp lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 23.7% during the 4th quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 188 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $71,000 after buying an additional 36 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other Microsoft news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 45,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $411.78, for a total value of $18,530,100.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 574,129 shares in the company, valued at approximately $236,414,839.62. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Microsoft news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 45,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on Friday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $411.78, for a total transaction of $18,530,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 574,129 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $236,414,839.62. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, 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 value of $8,868,941.80. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 159,764 shares in the company, valued at approximately $64,538,265.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 1,070,258 shares of company stock valued at $30,690,456. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MSFT has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on Microsoft from $450.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on Microsoft from $415.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. DA Davidson reissued a “buy” rating and set a $500.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Friday, March 15th. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $500.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Friday. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $465.00 to $489.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday. 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, Microsoft has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $452.61.

Microsoft Trading Up 1.8 %

Shares of MSFT stock traded up $7.28 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $406.32. 29,640,094 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 18,152,042. The company has a current ratio of 1.22, a quick ratio of 1.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19. Microsoft Co. has a 12-month low of $295.25 and a 12-month high of $430.82. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.02 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 0.89. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $414.48 and its 200-day moving average price is $387.70.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The software giant reported $2.94 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.81 by $0.13. Microsoft had a return on equity of 38.87% and a net margin of 36.43%. The firm had revenue of $61.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $60.86 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.45 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 17.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 11.61 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

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

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.