Papp L Roy & Associates Cuts Stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Papp L Roy & Associates lowered its holdings in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 3.0% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 192,115 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 5,972 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for about 5.5% of Papp L Roy & Associates’ portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest position. Papp L Roy & Associates’ holdings in Microsoft were worth $30,299,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Merit Financial Group LLC grew its stake in Microsoft by 12.8% in the 1st quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 18,619 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $2,936,000 after buying an additional 2,114 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Wealth Advisors Group LLC grew its stake in Microsoft by 31.6% in the 1st quarter. Strategic Wealth Advisors Group LLC now owns 172,713 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $26,463,000 after buying an additional 41,453 shares during the last quarter. Gilbert & Cook Inc. grew its stake in Microsoft by 15.2% in the 1st quarter. Gilbert & Cook Inc. now owns 13,164 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $2,076,000 after buying an additional 1,732 shares during the last quarter. Fagan Associates Inc. grew its stake in Microsoft by 13.3% in the 1st quarter. Fagan Associates Inc. now owns 112,255 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $17,703,000 after buying an additional 13,212 shares during the last quarter. Finally, StrategIQ Financial Group LLC grew its stake in Microsoft by 7.6% in the 1st quarter. StrategIQ Financial Group LLC now owns 7,826 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $1,234,000 after buying an additional 552 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.66% of the company’s stock.

In other Microsoft news, EVP Margaret L. Johnson sold 35,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $176.08, for a total value of $6,162,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 50,023 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,808,049.84. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO Frank H. Brod sold 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $176.94, for a total transaction of $530,820.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 57,136 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,109,643.84. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 1.39% of the company’s stock.

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Co raised their target price on shares of Microsoft from $185.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. set a $190.00 target price on shares of Microsoft and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 14th. Citigroup initiated coverage on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Friday, May 15th. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on shares of Microsoft from $162.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on shares of Microsoft from $200.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-four have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Microsoft currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $190.66.

Shares of MSFT stock opened at $181.57 on Wednesday. Microsoft Co. has a 12-month low of $119.01 and a 12-month high of $190.70. The company has a market capitalization of $1,390.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.26, a P/E/G ratio of 2.49 and a beta of 0.95. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $176.35 and a 200 day moving average price of $163.91. The company has a quick ratio of 2.88, a current ratio of 2.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The software giant reported $1.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.27 by $0.13. Microsoft had a net margin of 33.36% and a return on equity of 40.37%. The firm had revenue of $35.02 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $33.70 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.14 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 14.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 5.69 earnings per share for the current year.

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.51 per share. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.12%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 20th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is currently 42.95%.

About Microsoft

Microsoft Corporation develops, licenses, and supports software, services, devices, and solutions worldwide. Its company's Productivity and Business Processes segment offers Office 365 commercial products and services, such as Office, Exchange, SharePoint, Skype for Business, Microsoft Teams, and related Client Access Licenses (CALs); Office 365 consumer services, including Skype, Outlook.com, and OneDrive; LinkedIn online professional network; and Dynamics business solutions comprising financial management, enterprise resource planning, customer relationship management, supply chain management, and analytics applications for small and medium businesses, large organizations, and divisions of enterprises.

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