Clarity Financial LLC Sells 4,133 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Clarity Financial LLC lowered its stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 7.3% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 52,772 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 4,133 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises approximately 3.4% of Clarity Financial LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 10th biggest holding. Clarity Financial LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $22,202,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in MSFT. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $35,920,047,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $9,625,201,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 664,908,939 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $250,032,357,000 after purchasing an additional 15,701,937 shares in the last quarter. TCI Fund Management Ltd. acquired a new position in Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth $4,000,376,000. Finally, FMR LLC grew its position in Microsoft by 2.7% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 215,874,152 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $68,162,263,000 after purchasing an additional 5,762,902 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling 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 directly owns 104,949 shares in the company, valued at approximately $44,674,690.32. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other news, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $425.68, for a total value of $10,642,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 104,949 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $44,674,690.32. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 322 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $416.60, for a total transaction 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 25,566 shares of company stock valued at $10,877,535. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently commented on MSFT. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $480.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. KeyCorp started coverage on Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $490.00 price target for the company. Macquarie upped their price objective on Microsoft from $460.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Microsoft from $440.00 to $470.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Finally, Oppenheimer boosted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $450.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, June 7th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $467.12.

Microsoft Stock Performance

NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $460.77 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a current ratio of 1.24. Microsoft Co. has a fifty-two week low of $309.45 and a fifty-two week high of $461.02. The company has a market cap of $3.42 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.89, a PEG ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 0.89. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $426.26 and a 200-day moving average price of $411.42.

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

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.65%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 15th. Microsoft’s payout ratio is presently 25.97%.

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.