Allegiance Financial Group Advisory Services LLC Cuts Stock Holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Allegiance Financial Group Advisory Services LLC decreased its position in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 2.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 45,714 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 1,147 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up 8.1% of Allegiance Financial Group Advisory Services LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 3rd largest holding. Allegiance Financial Group Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $17,190,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in MSFT. Monumental Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the 1st quarter worth $28,000. Atlantic Private Wealth LLC lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 534.5% during the 2nd quarter. Atlantic Private Wealth LLC now owns 184 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $63,000 after purchasing an additional 155 shares during the last quarter. Hibernia Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the 3rd quarter worth $69,000. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake 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 worth $70,000 after purchasing an additional 105 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MayTech Global Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth $83,000. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. StockNews.com cut Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 22nd. UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $480.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on Microsoft from $415.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Truist Financial reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $600.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a report on Monday, March 25th. Finally, BNP Paribas raised Microsoft from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $471.00 price target for the company in a report on Thursday, January 18th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $432.13.

Microsoft Stock Down 1.8 %

Microsoft stock opened at $404.27 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.00 trillion, a PE ratio of 36.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.89. Microsoft Co. has a 12 month low of $275.37 and a 12 month high of $430.82. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $415.29 and a 200-day simple moving average of $384.29. 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 posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 30th. The software giant reported $2.93 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.76 by $0.17. The business 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.32 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 11.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 16th will be given a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.74%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 15th. Microsoft’s payout ratio is 27.12%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 3,303 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $406.12, for a total transaction of $1,341,414.36. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 570,826 shares in the company, valued at $231,823,855.12. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 45,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 in the company, valued at $236,414,839.62. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 3,303 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $406.12, for a total value of $1,341,414.36. Following the sale, the insider now owns 570,826 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $231,823,855.12. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 1,070,258 shares of company stock worth $30,690,456. 0.03% of the stock is owned by corporate 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.