Prairie Wealth Advisors Inc. Sells 108 Shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)
by Jessica Moore · The Cerbat GemPrairie Wealth Advisors Inc. reduced its stake in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT – Free Report) by 1.7% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 6,115 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 108 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up approximately 1.1% of Prairie Wealth Advisors Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 13th biggest holding. Prairie Wealth Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $2,295,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.
A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Microsoft by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 684,071,705 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $288,336,224,000 after acquiring an additional 10,431,988 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Microsoft by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 168,128,024 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $70,720,874,000 after purchasing an additional 3,103,212 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at about $44,343,058,000. Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 16.1% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 83,787,746 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $35,316,535,000 after purchasing an additional 11,600,470 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 9.8% during the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 59,961,337 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $25,273,704,000 after buying an additional 5,370,546 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.
Microsoft Stock Up 3.9%
MSFT stock opened at $533.50 on Friday. Microsoft Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $344.79 and a fifty-two week high of $555.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 1.37 and a quick ratio of 1.36. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.97 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.11, a PEG ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 1.04. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $488.46 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $434.13.
Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT – Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $3.65 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.35 by $0.30. Microsoft had a net margin of 36.15% and a return on equity of 33.49%. The business had revenue of $76.44 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $73.79 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.95 earnings per share. Microsoft’s revenue was up 18.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current year.
Microsoft Announces Dividend
The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 21st will be given a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 21st. Microsoft’s payout ratio is presently 24.34%.
Insider Buying and Selling
In related news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 6,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $433.17, for a total value of $2,599,020.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 471,036 shares in the company, valued at approximately $204,038,664.12. The trade was a 1.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $453.77, for a total value of $9,756,055.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 134,888 shares in the company, valued at $61,208,127.76. This represents a 13.75% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 60,743 shares of company stock valued at $27,520,933 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.
Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades
A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Wedbush increased their price objective on Microsoft from $600.00 to $625.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on Microsoft from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $480.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $530.00 to $582.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $650.00 target price (up previously from $600.00) on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Microsoft has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $609.86.
Get Our Latest Analysis on Microsoft
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.
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