Microsoft Corporation $MSFT Stake Reduced by WT Wealth Management

WT Wealth Management trimmed its position in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 7.9% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 19,411 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 1,674 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for 2.9% of WT Wealth Management’s holdings, making the stock its 8th largest holding. WT Wealth Management’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $9,655,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the 2nd quarter valued at about $50,493,678,000. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 564,387.1% during the second quarter. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC now owns 90,549,369 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $45,040,162,000 after buying an additional 90,533,328 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in Microsoft during the 1st quarter valued at $18,733,827,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 49,640.3% in the 2nd quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 29,967,038 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $14,905,904,000 after acquiring an additional 29,906,791 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 2.0% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 705,077,786 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $350,712,742,000 after acquiring an additional 13,691,572 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Trading Up 0.3%

Shares of NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $476.39 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.39, a current ratio of 1.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. Microsoft Corporation has a 52-week low of $344.79 and a 52-week high of $555.45. The stock has a market cap of $3.54 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.88, a PEG ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 1.07. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $502.02 and a 200-day moving average price of $502.89.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The software giant reported $4.13 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.65 by $0.48. Microsoft had a return on equity of 32.45% and a net margin of 35.71%.The firm had revenue of $77.67 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $75.49 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.30 earnings per share. Microsoft’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 19th will be issued a dividend of $0.91 per share. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 19th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 25.89%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday, November 19th. Evercore ISI set a $640.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $675.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday, December 3rd. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Microsoft from $625.00 to $650.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, Wolfe Research cut their price target on shares of Microsoft from $675.00 to $625.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-seven have assigned a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $631.03.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 2,850 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $478.72, for a total value of $1,364,352.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 55,782 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $26,703,959.04. This represents a 4.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 38,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $518.64, for a total value of $19,967,640.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 461,597 shares in the company, valued at $239,402,668.08. This represents a 7.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 54,100 shares of company stock worth $27,598,872 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

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.