Simplicity Wealth LLC Sells 217,991 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Simplicity Wealth LLC reduced its holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 85.1% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 38,230 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 217,991 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for about 1.5% of Simplicity Wealth LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 11th largest position. Simplicity Wealth LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $16,451,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Wynn Capital LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Wynn Capital LLC now owns 12,118 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $5,214,000 after purchasing an additional 32 shares in the last quarter. Fiduciary Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 2.9% in the 3rd quarter. Fiduciary Financial Group LLC now owns 8,936 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $3,706,000 after purchasing an additional 254 shares in the last quarter. Peak Financial Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 899.6% in the 3rd quarter. Peak Financial Advisors LLC now owns 7,757 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $3,338,000 after purchasing an additional 6,981 shares in the last quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 45.7% in the 3rd quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt now owns 278,392 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $119,722,000 after purchasing an additional 87,377 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Juncture Wealth Strategies LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 15.6% in the 3rd quarter. Juncture Wealth Strategies LLC now owns 2,704 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,164,000 after purchasing an additional 364 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In related news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 40,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $402.59, for a total transaction of $16,103,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 544,847 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $219,349,953.73. This trade represents a 6.84 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 17,378 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $411.85, for a total value of $7,157,129.30. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 150,161 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $61,843,807.85. This trade represents a 10.37 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 209,431 shares of company stock valued at $85,796,688 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Stock Down 1.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $422.99 on Friday. Microsoft Co. has a 52-week low of $362.90 and a 52-week high of $468.35. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.14 trillion, a P/E ratio of 34.90, a P/E/G ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.91. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $421.07 and a 200-day moving average price of $426.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a current ratio of 1.30.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.10 by $0.20. Microsoft had a return on equity of 34.56% and a net margin of 35.61%. The company had revenue of $65.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $64.57 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.99 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 12.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft declared that its board has authorized a stock buyback program on Monday, September 16th that allows the company to repurchase $60.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the software giant to buy up to 1.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 21st will be given a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.78%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. This is a positive change from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 27.39%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on MSFT. Citigroup cut their price objective on Microsoft from $500.00 to $497.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Microsoft from $506.00 to $548.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Wells Fargo & Company restated a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Friday, October 18th. KeyCorp increased their target price on Microsoft from $490.00 to $505.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Oppenheimer cut Microsoft from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $503.03.

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.