Aviva PLC Decreases Stock Holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Aviva PLC decreased its position in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 0.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 5,205,273 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 6,114 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for approximately 5.7% of Aviva PLC's portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest holding. Aviva PLC owned approximately 0.07% of Microsoft worth $2,194,023,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth $38,000. IFS Advisors LLC increased 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 worth $42,000 after buying an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. Avondale Wealth Management increased its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Microsoft during the fourth quarter valued at $62,000. Finally, Sellwood Investment Partners LLC bought a new stake in Microsoft during the fourth quarter valued at $120,000. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of Microsoft stock traded down $3.91 during trading on Friday, reaching $474.96. The company's stock had a trading volume of 16,804,288 shares, compared to its average volume of 21,539,207. The stock 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 one year low of $344.79 and a one year high of $480.42. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $428.05 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $418.65.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results 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 analyst estimates of $68.54 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 33.36% and a net margin of 35.43%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.94 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 21st will be given a dividend of $0.83 per share. 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 payout ratio is currently 25.66%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Microsoft news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $453.77, for a total transaction of $9,756,055.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 134,888 shares of the company's stock, valued at $61,208,127.76. This represents a 13.75% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 3,000 shares of the 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 43,930 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,339,590. This trade represents a 6.39% 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 valued at $60,224,683. 0.03% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MSFT has been the subject of several recent research reports. KeyCorp restated a "sector weight" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Tigress Financial upped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $550.00 to $595.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $480.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. TD Securities upped their price target 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. Finally, Bank of America lowered their price target on shares of Microsoft from $510.00 to $480.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $515.68.

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.