Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Sold by EFG Asset Management Americas Corp.

EFG Asset Management Americas Corp. lessened its holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 3.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 57,881 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 1,786 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises approximately 4.7% of EFG Asset Management Americas Corp.'s holdings, making the stock its biggest position. EFG Asset Management Americas Corp.'s holdings in Microsoft were worth $24,397,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth approximately $38,000. IFS Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 53.8% during 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 during the last quarter. Avondale Wealth Management raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 144.4% during the fourth 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 last quarter. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the third quarter valued at approximately $62,000. Finally, Kieckhefer Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $141,000. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on MSFT shares. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $430.00 to $494.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Wedbush lifted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $515.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Scotiabank raised their target price on shares of Microsoft from $470.00 to $500.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of Microsoft from $450.00 to $480.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Microsoft has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $507.77.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:MSFT traded up $3.80 on Wednesday, hitting $452.94. The company had a trading volume of 19,864,490 shares, compared to its average volume of 21,511,825. The company has a market cap of $3.37 trillion, a PE ratio of 36.47, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.99. The business has a 50 day moving average of $391.20 and a 200 day moving average of $411.86. Microsoft Co. has a 52-week low of $344.79 and a 52-week high of $468.35. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.22 by $0.24. The firm had revenue of $70.07 billion during 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 quarterly revenue was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.94 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.73%. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio is presently 25.66%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Microsoft news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 6,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 471,036 shares in the company, valued at $204,038,664.12. This represents a 1.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.