WealthCare Investment Partners LLC Sells 50 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

WealthCare Investment Partners LLC lessened its stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 0.6% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 7,909 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 50 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up approximately 1.6% of WealthCare Investment Partners LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 17th largest position. WealthCare Investment Partners LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $3,328,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of MSFT. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 664,908,939 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $250,032,357,000 after acquiring an additional 15,701,937 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 2.7% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 215,874,152 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $68,162,263,000 after buying an additional 5,762,902 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Microsoft during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $35,920,047,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Microsoft in the 4th quarter worth approximately $9,625,201,000. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 25,505,600 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $9,591,126,000 after purchasing an additional 277,881 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on MSFT shares. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $495.00 to $520.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, June 21st. Evercore ISI upped their price target on Microsoft from $475.00 to $485.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. New Street Research assumed coverage on shares of Microsoft in a report on Monday, June 10th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $570.00 target price on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $480.00 to $500.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Finally, Truist Financial reissued a “buy” rating and set a $600.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a report on Monday, June 17th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Microsoft has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $467.12.

Insider Activity

In other Microsoft news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 322 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $416.60, for a total transaction of $134,145.20. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 47,255 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,686,433. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Microsoft 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 transaction of $10,642,000.00. Following the transaction, 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 document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 322 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,686,433. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 25,566 shares of company stock valued at $10,877,535. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Price Performance

MSFT opened at $460.77 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.23, a current ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17. The business has a fifty day moving average of $426.26 and a 200 day moving average of $411.42. Microsoft Co. has a 52-week low of $309.45 and a 52-week high of $461.02. The stock has a market cap of $3.42 trillion, a P/E ratio of 39.89, a PEG ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 0.89.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $60.86 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 36.43% and a return on equity of 37.54%. The business’s revenue was up 17.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.45 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 11.77 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 12th. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 0.65%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 15th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.