Aristotle Atlantic Partners LLC Sells 33,601 Shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Aristotle Atlantic Partners LLC reduced its stake in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 4.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 660,927 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 33,601 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for 8.8% of Aristotle Atlantic Partners LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest holding. Aristotle Atlantic Partners LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $278,581,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Arrowroot Family Office LLC boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 108.4% in the fourth quarter. Arrowroot Family Office LLC now owns 5,564 shares of the software giant's stock worth $2,345,000 after purchasing an additional 2,894 shares in the last quarter. Aspire Growth Partners LLC bought a new stake in Microsoft in the fourth quarter worth $5,543,000. Atalanta Sosnoff Capital LLC lifted its position in Microsoft by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. Atalanta Sosnoff Capital LLC now owns 816,331 shares of the software giant's stock worth $344,084,000 after acquiring an additional 21,894 shares during the last quarter. Accredited Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth $2,213,000. Finally, Advanced Portfolio Management LLC lifted its position in Microsoft by 125.1% during the 4th quarter. Advanced Portfolio Management LLC now owns 13,733 shares of the software giant's stock worth $5,748,000 after acquiring an additional 7,632 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of Microsoft stock traded up $2.20 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $480.24. 17,508,757 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 21,496,242. The stock has a market cap of $3.57 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.11, a PEG ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 1.36 and a current ratio of 1.37. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $434.09 and its 200-day moving average price is $419.74. Microsoft Corporation has a 12 month low of $344.79 and a 12 month high of $481.00.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.22 by $0.24. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.79% and a return on equity of 32.74%. The firm had revenue of $70.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $68.54 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.94 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.69%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 21st. Microsoft's payout ratio is 25.66%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 3,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $463.00, for a total value of $1,389,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 43,930 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $20,339,590. This represents a 6.39% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 6,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, May 5th. The shares were 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 approximately $204,038,664.12. This represents a 1.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 135,743 shares of company stock valued at $60,224,683 in the last ninety days. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. TD Securities boosted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $490.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Mizuho boosted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. DA Davidson boosted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $450.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Guggenheim reissued a "neutral" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Wedbush reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-nine have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Microsoft currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $515.68.

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.