Clarus Wealth Advisors Sells 72 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Clarus Wealth Advisors cut its position in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 2.1% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 3,326 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 72 shares during the period. Clarus Wealth Advisors’ holdings in Microsoft were worth $1,408,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Financial Security Advisor Inc. increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Financial Security Advisor Inc. now owns 27,270 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $10,255,000 after purchasing an additional 452 shares during the last quarter. Gunderson Capital Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Gunderson Capital Management Inc. now owns 24,887 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $9,359,000 after purchasing an additional 185 shares during the last quarter. Rappaport Reiches Capital Management LLC grew its position in Microsoft by 14.9% during the 4th quarter. Rappaport Reiches Capital Management LLC now owns 8,213 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $3,089,000 after acquiring an additional 1,067 shares during the last quarter. Bayesian Capital Management LP grew its position in Microsoft by 60.1% during the 4th quarter. Bayesian Capital Management LP now owns 48,500 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $18,238,000 after acquiring an additional 18,200 shares during the last quarter. Finally, RNC Capital Management LLC grew its position in Microsoft by 10.4% during the 4th quarter. RNC Capital Management LLC now owns 69,053 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $25,967,000 after acquiring an additional 6,484 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Microsoft Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $452.16 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $3.36 trillion, a P/E ratio of 39.15, a PEG ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a current ratio of 1.24 and a quick ratio of 1.23. Microsoft Co. has a 1 year low of $309.45 and a 1 year high of $453.60. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $421.37 and its 200-day moving average price is $408.52.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The software giant reported $2.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.81 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $61.86 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $60.86 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 37.54% and a net margin of 36.43%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 17.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.45 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 11.77 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 15th will be given a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.66%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 15th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.97%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MSFT has been the topic of several recent research reports. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Microsoft from $465.00 to $520.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $500.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday, May 24th. Stifel Nicolaus restated a “buy” rating and set a $455.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and set a $500.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday, May 22nd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on Microsoft from $465.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 1st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-three have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Microsoft currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $467.12.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In related news, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $425.68, for a total transaction of $10,642,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 104,949 shares in the company, valued at $44,674,690.32. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Microsoft news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 322 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $416.60, for a total value of $134,145.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer now owns 47,255 shares in the company, valued at $19,686,433. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $425.68, for a total value of $10,642,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 104,949 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $44,674,690.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 25,566 shares of company stock worth $10,877,535. 0.03% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Microsoft Company 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.