Salem Investment Counselors Inc. Sells 2,588 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Salem Investment Counselors Inc. decreased its stake in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 0.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 403,427 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 2,588 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up about 5.6% of Salem Investment Counselors Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 4th largest holding. Salem Investment Counselors Inc.'s holdings in Microsoft were worth $170,045,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 35.7% during the third quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 95 shares of the software giant's stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP acquired a new position in Microsoft during the second quarter worth $45,000. Avondale Wealth Management boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 144.4% during the fourth quarter. Avondale Wealth Management now owns 110 shares of the software giant's stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in Microsoft during the third quarter worth $62,000. Finally, Kieckhefer Group LLC acquired a new position in Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth $141,000. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $447.41, for a total value of $1,118,525.00. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 49,352 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,080,578.32. This trade represents a 4.82 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders have sold a total of 8,000 shares of company stock valued at $3,493,820 in the last ninety days. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Microsoft Stock Performance

NASDAQ:MSFT traded down $5.77 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $410.36. 13,673,038 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 22,098,506. Microsoft Co. has a one year low of $385.58 and a one year high of $468.35. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.05 trillion, a PE ratio of 33.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.90. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $425.98 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $422.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a current ratio of 1.35.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The software giant reported $3.23 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.15 by $0.08. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.43% and a return on equity of 33.36%. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.93 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 13.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be issued a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.81%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio is currently 26.73%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently commented on MSFT shares. Wedbush restated an "outperform" rating and set a $550.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Microsoft from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of Microsoft from $470.00 to $465.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $495.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, DA Davidson reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $425.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $510.96.

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.