360 Financial Inc. Has $2.36 Million Stock Position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

360 Financial Inc. lowered its holdings in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 10.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 5,595 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 687 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises 0.9% of 360 Financial Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 20th largest holding. 360 Financial Inc.'s holdings in Microsoft were worth $2,358,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 684,071,705 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $288,336,224,000 after buying an additional 10,431,988 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 168,128,024 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $70,720,874,000 after buying an additional 3,103,212 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at about $44,343,058,000. Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 16.1% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 83,787,746 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $35,316,535,000 after buying an additional 11,600,470 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 3.9% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 49,052,704 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $20,675,715,000 after buying an additional 1,823,579 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In related news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 6,000 shares of the business'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 value of $2,599,020.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 471,036 shares in the company, valued at approximately $204,038,664.12. The trade was a 1.26% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Amy Coleman sold 13,243 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $452.01, for a total value of $5,985,968.43. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 43,100 shares in the company, valued at $19,481,631. The trade was a 23.50% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 135,743 shares of company stock worth $60,224,683. 0.03% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Microsoft Trading Down 0.8%

Shares of Microsoft stock traded down $3.91 during trading on Friday, hitting $474.96. 16,804,288 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 21,539,207. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.53 trillion, a P/E ratio of 38.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.03. Microsoft Co. has a 1-year low of $344.79 and a 1-year high of $480.42. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $428.05 and its 200 day moving average price is $418.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 1.34.

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, beating the consensus estimate of $3.22 by $0.24. Microsoft had a return on equity of 33.36% and a net margin of 35.43%. The business had revenue of $70.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $68.54 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.94 EPS. Microsoft's quarterly revenue was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 21st will be given a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 21st. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.70%. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio is presently 25.66%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on MSFT shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Microsoft from $465.00 to $475.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. UBS Group cut their price target on Microsoft from $510.00 to $480.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 14th. Wedbush reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Scotiabank lifted their price target on Microsoft from $470.00 to $500.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Guggenheim reiterated a "neutral" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Microsoft presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $515.68.

Microsoft 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.