Wolff Wiese Magana LLC Cuts Stock Holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Wolff Wiese Magana LLC reduced its holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 2.8% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 12,171 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 351 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for about 4.4% of Wolff Wiese Magana LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest holding. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $5,121,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MSFT. Journey Advisory Group LLC increased its stake in Microsoft by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Journey Advisory Group LLC now owns 82,994 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $26,205,000 after buying an additional 1,388 shares during the last quarter. Advisors Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Microsoft by 12.9% in the 3rd quarter. Advisors Capital Management LLC now owns 490,084 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $154,744,000 after buying an additional 56,139 shares during the last quarter. Pacific Center for Financial Services increased its stake in Microsoft by 20.4% in the 3rd quarter. Pacific Center for Financial Services now owns 4,241 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $1,339,000 after buying an additional 720 shares during the last quarter. Spouting Rock Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Microsoft by 26.9% in the 3rd quarter. Spouting Rock Asset Management LLC now owns 14,825 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $4,681,000 after buying an additional 3,142 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Maripau Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Microsoft by 25.6% in the 3rd quarter. Maripau Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,564 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $810,000 after buying an additional 522 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 244 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $415.53, for a total transaction of $101,389.32. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 47,011 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,534,480.83. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Microsoft news, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 104,949 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $44,674,690.32. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 244 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $415.53, for a total transaction of $101,389.32. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 47,011 shares in the company, valued at $19,534,480.83. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 25,566 shares of company stock valued at $10,877,535 over the last ninety days. 0.03% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently weighed in on MSFT. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $485.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. UBS Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $480.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted 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. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $455.00 to $465.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 12th. Finally, Truist Financial restated a “buy” rating and set a $600.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Monday, June 17th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $469.86.

Microsoft Trading Down 2.5 %

MSFT opened at $454.70 on Friday. Microsoft Co. has a twelve month low of $309.45 and a twelve month high of $468.35. 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 company has a fifty day moving average of $435.00 and a 200-day moving average of $415.23. The stock has a market cap of $3.38 trillion, a PE ratio of 39.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.89.

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

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 12th. Investors 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 0.66%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 15th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is presently 25.97%.

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.