Kwmg LLC Lowers Position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Kwmg LLC trimmed its stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 7.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 19,887 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 1,539 shares during the quarter. Kwmg LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $7,478,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. High Pines Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Microsoft by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. High Pines Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,256 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $712,000 after buying an additional 28 shares in the last quarter. Sonen Capital LLC grew its position in Microsoft by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Sonen Capital LLC now owns 10,132 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $3,199,000 after buying an additional 28 shares in the last quarter. Perritt Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 3.3% during the 3rd quarter. Perritt Capital Management Inc. now owns 937 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $296,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Noble Family Wealth LLC boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Noble Family Wealth LLC now owns 2,331 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $736,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares in the last quarter. Finally, O Connor Financial Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. O Connor Financial Group LLC now owns 2,191 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $692,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Microsoft Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of MSFT stock opened at $421.43 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $3.13 trillion, a P/E ratio of 38.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 0.89. Microsoft Co. has a one year low of $272.05 and a one year high of $430.82. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $409.64 and a 200 day moving average price of $373.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a current ratio of 1.22 and a quick ratio of 1.20.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 30th. The software giant reported $2.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.76 by $0.17. The company had revenue of $62.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $61.14 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 38.40% and a net margin of 36.27%. The business’s revenue was up 17.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.32 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 11.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 15th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.71%. Microsoft’s payout ratio is presently 27.12%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,955 shares of Microsoft 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 directly owns 159,764 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $64,538,265.44. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through 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 stock was sold at an average price of $1.95, for a total value 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 $22,770,926.10. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,955 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 11th. The shares were 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 directly owns 159,764 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $64,538,265.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, 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.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently weighed in on MSFT. Mizuho raised their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $420.00 to $450.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 15th. Argus upped their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $390.00 to $430.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 5th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $421.00 to $475.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. KeyCorp initiated coverage on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. They set an “overweight” rating and a $490.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Macquarie increased their price target on shares of Microsoft from $430.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $423.34.

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.