Commonwealth Retirement Investments LLC Cuts Stock Position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Commonwealth Retirement Investments LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 1.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 25,041 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 351 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up approximately 5.0% of Commonwealth Retirement Investments LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest holding. Commonwealth Retirement Investments LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $9,416,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Microsoft by 89.0% during the third quarter. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC now owns 223 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $70,000 after purchasing an additional 105 shares during the last quarter. Authentikos Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the third quarter worth $87,000. Family CFO Inc grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 13.6% in the third quarter. Family CFO Inc now owns 359 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $113,000 after acquiring an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. Cordant Inc. grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 647.8% in the fourth quarter. Cordant Inc. now owns 344 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $129,000 after acquiring an additional 298 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Life Planning Partners Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter worth $146,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Stock Up 1.8 %

MSFT opened at $406.32 on Friday. Microsoft Co. has a 1-year low of $295.25 and a 1-year high of $430.82. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $414.48 and its 200 day simple moving average is $388.12. The company has a current ratio of 1.22, a quick ratio of 1.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19. The stock has a market cap of $3.02 trillion, a PE ratio of 35.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 0.89.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The software giant reported $2.94 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.81 by $0.13. Microsoft had a return on equity of 38.87% and a net margin of 36.43%. The business had revenue of $61.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $60.86 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.45 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 11.61 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 16th will be paid a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.74%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 15th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.97%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $415.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Citigroup dropped their price objective on Microsoft from $480.00 to $475.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Raymond James reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $480.00 price objective (up from $450.00) on shares of Microsoft in a report on Friday. Macquarie boosted their price objective on Microsoft from $430.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reissued a “buy” rating and set a $455.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-two have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Microsoft has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $452.61.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,955 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $403.96, for a total value of $8,868,941.80. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 159,764 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $64,538,265.44. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other Microsoft news, major shareholder Corp Microsoft sold 1,000,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $1.95, for a total transaction of $1,950,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 11,677,398 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,770,926.10. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,955 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $403.96, for a total value of $8,868,941.80. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 159,764 shares in the company, valued at approximately $64,538,265.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 1,070,258 shares of company stock worth $30,690,456. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

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.