Bailard Inc. Sells 9,503 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Bailard Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 2.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 424,807 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 9,503 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises approximately 4.6% of Bailard Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 2nd largest holding. Bailard Inc.'s holdings in Microsoft were worth $179,056,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Adamsbrown Wealth Consultants LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Adamsbrown Wealth Consultants LLC now owns 5,967 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $2,515,000 after acquiring an additional 130 shares during the period. Mcdaniel Terry & Co. increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 6.1% during the 4th quarter. Mcdaniel Terry & Co. now owns 315,594 shares of the software giant's stock worth $133,023,000 after purchasing an additional 18,052 shares in the last quarter. Centric Wealth Management lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Centric Wealth Management now owns 16,156 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $6,789,000 after purchasing an additional 112 shares during the last quarter. 1900 Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Microsoft by 3.0% in the fourth quarter. 1900 Wealth Management LLC now owns 10,140 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $4,274,000 after buying an additional 294 shares in the last quarter. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its stake in Microsoft by 2.4% during the third quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 9,250,128 shares of the software giant's stock worth $3,980,299,000 after buying an additional 217,509 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of MSFT opened at $433.35 on Thursday. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $387.20 and a 200 day simple moving average of $411.42. Microsoft Co. has a 52-week low of $344.79 and a 52-week high of $468.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a current ratio of 1.35. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.22 trillion, a PE ratio of 34.89, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.99.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.22 by $0.24. The company had revenue of $70.07 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $68.54 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.43% and a return on equity of 33.36%. The firm's revenue was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.94 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be issued a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.77%. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 25.66%.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 6,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $433.17, for a total transaction of $2,599,020.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 471,036 shares of the company's stock, valued at $204,038,664.12. This represents a 1.26 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.03% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. Cantor Fitzgerald boosted their target price on Microsoft from $502.00 to $512.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on Microsoft from $470.00 to $485.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Scotiabank raised their target price on Microsoft from $470.00 to $500.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Piper Sandler reaffirmed a "neutral" rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, DA Davidson increased their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $450.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $507.77.

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.

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