ERTS Wealth Advisors LLC Sells 177 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

ERTS Wealth Advisors LLC lowered its position in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 2.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,128 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 177 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises approximately 0.5% of ERTS Wealth Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 16th biggest position. ERTS Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $2,305,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Sicart Associates LLC grew its holdings in Microsoft by 2.9% during the 4th quarter. Sicart Associates LLC now owns 926 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $348,000 after buying an additional 26 shares in the last quarter. Mayfair Advisory Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Mayfair Advisory Group LLC now owns 3,866 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,434,000 after buying an additional 27 shares in the last quarter. O Connor Financial Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 1.4% during the third quarter. O Connor Financial Group LLC now owns 2,191 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $692,000 after acquiring an additional 31 shares during the last quarter. Navis Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in Microsoft by 2.1% during the third quarter. Navis Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,507 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $476,000 after acquiring an additional 31 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kaizen Financial Strategies increased its holdings in Microsoft by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Kaizen Financial Strategies now owns 7,807 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $2,936,000 after acquiring an additional 31 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Microsoft Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of NASDAQ MSFT opened at $400.96 on Tuesday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $414.57 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $386.37. Microsoft Co. has a 12-month low of $275.37 and a 12-month high of $430.82. The company has a current ratio of 1.22, a quick ratio of 1.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.98 trillion, a PE ratio of 36.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 0.89.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 30th. The software giant reported $2.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.76 by $0.17. Microsoft had a net margin of 36.27% and a return on equity of 38.40%. The business had revenue of $62.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $61.14 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.32 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 11.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Microsoft news, 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 transaction of $18,530,100.00. Following 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,955 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 159,764 shares in the company, valued at $64,538,265.44. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 45,000 shares of the company’s 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 transaction, the insider now owns 574,129 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $236,414,839.62. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 1,070,258 shares of company stock worth $30,690,456. 0.03% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MSFT has been the subject of several research reports. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $465.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 1st. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $455.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, January 25th. BNP Paribas upgraded 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. Raymond James upped their price objective on Microsoft from $400.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $415.00 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-five have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $434.05.

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.