Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Sold by Anchor Capital Advisors LLC

Anchor Capital Advisors LLC reduced its stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 2.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 71,086 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 1,458 shares during the period. Anchor Capital Advisors LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $29,963,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of MSFT. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $38,000. IFS Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 53.8% in the fourth quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 100 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Avondale Wealth Management raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 144.4% in the 4th quarter. Avondale Wealth Management now owns 110 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $46,000 after buying an additional 65 shares during the period. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in Microsoft during the 3rd quarter worth about $62,000. Finally, Kieckhefer Group LLC purchased a new position in Microsoft during the 4th quarter valued at about $141,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MSFT has been the topic of several research reports. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $525.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Microsoft from $465.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday. Cantor Fitzgerald boosted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $502.00 to $512.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday. TD Securities upped their price objective on Microsoft from $475.00 to $490.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Benchmark reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $507.77.

Microsoft Stock Performance

NASDAQ:MSFT traded up $0.89 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $436.17. 20,112,843 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 21,367,112. The company has a quick ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.24 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.12, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.99. Microsoft Co. has a 1-year low of $344.79 and a 1-year high of $468.35. The company has a 50-day moving average of $384.93 and a 200 day moving average of $411.03.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.22 by $0.24. The firm had revenue of $70.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $68.54 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 33.36% and a net margin of 35.43%. The business's revenue was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.94 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be paid a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.76%. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio is currently 25.66%.

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.