Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Sold by Linscomb Wealth Inc.

Linscomb Wealth Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 2.4% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 106,666 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 2,656 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for about 2.3% of Linscomb Wealth Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 8th biggest holding. Linscomb Wealth Inc.'s holdings in Microsoft were worth $45,898,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of MSFT. WFA Asset Management Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 27.0% during the 1st quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 1,016 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $427,000 after purchasing an additional 216 shares in the last quarter. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. raised its holdings in Microsoft by 0.3% during the 2nd quarter. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. now owns 12,658 shares of the software giant's stock worth $5,658,000 after buying an additional 38 shares during the period. Centennial Wealth Advisory LLC lifted its stake in Microsoft by 10.4% in the second quarter. Centennial Wealth Advisory LLC now owns 4,369 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $1,953,000 after buying an additional 413 shares in the last quarter. Geneva Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 7.8% in the second quarter. Geneva Partners LLC now owns 25,679 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $11,477,000 after buying an additional 1,855 shares during the period. Finally, Sloy Dahl & Holst LLC increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.7% during the second quarter. Sloy Dahl & Holst LLC now owns 13,097 shares of the software giant's stock worth $5,854,000 after acquiring an additional 90 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $417.00, for a total transaction of $10,425,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 117,294 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $48,911,598. This represents a 17.57 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 1,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $414.72, for a total transaction of $414,720.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 57,511 shares in the company, valued at $23,850,961.92. This trade represents a 1.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 41,200 shares of company stock worth $17,383,892. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:MSFT traded down $0.53 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $428.50. 25,848,817 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 19,069,188. The firm has a market cap of $3.19 trillion, a PE ratio of 35.35, a PEG ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a current ratio of 1.30, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. Microsoft Co. has a 12 month low of $385.58 and a 12 month high of $468.35. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $429.54 and a 200-day moving average price of $425.92.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.10 by $0.20. The firm had revenue of $65.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $64.57 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 34.56% and a net margin of 35.61%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.99 EPS. Research analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 12.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be issued a dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.77%. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio is presently 27.39%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $515.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Oppenheimer cut Microsoft from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on Microsoft from $470.00 to $465.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Royal Bank of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $500.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, Loop Capital lifted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $512.93.

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.