Waypoint Capital Advisors LLC Decreases Stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Waypoint Capital Advisors LLC reduced its stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 3.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 12,296 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 475 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises 1.3% of Waypoint Capital Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 25th largest position. Waypoint Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $4,624,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Monumental Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft during the first quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Atlantic Private Wealth LLC increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 534.5% during the second quarter. Atlantic Private Wealth LLC now owns 184 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $63,000 after buying an additional 155 shares during the period. Hibernia Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft during the third quarter valued at approximately $69,000. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 89.0% during the third quarter. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC now owns 223 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $70,000 after buying an additional 105 shares during the period. Finally, MayTech Global Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $83,000. 71.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of MSFT opened at $399.12 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.20, a current ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $414.86 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $384.83. The stock has a market cap of $2.97 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.09, a PEG ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.89. Microsoft Co. has a 52 week low of $275.37 and a 52 week high of $430.82.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 30th. The software giant reported $2.93 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 quarterly revenue was up 17.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.32 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 11.61 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 3,303 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 570,826 shares in the company, valued at $231,823,855.12. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 3,303 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 570,826 shares in the company, valued at $231,823,855.12. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 45,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $411.78, for a total value of $18,530,100.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 574,129 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $236,414,839.62. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 1,070,258 shares of company stock worth $30,690,456 over the last quarter. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on MSFT shares. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on Microsoft from $415.00 to $450.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $455.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, January 25th. KeyCorp assumed coverage on Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $490.00 price target on the stock. Truist Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $600.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Monday, March 25th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on Microsoft from $465.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 1st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-five have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Microsoft has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $432.13.

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.