Baker Avenue Asset Management LP Has $113.14 Million Stock Holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Baker Avenue Asset Management LP trimmed its stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 2.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 268,429 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 6,830 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up about 3.5% of Baker Avenue Asset Management LP's investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest holding. Baker Avenue Asset Management LP's holdings in Microsoft were worth $113,143,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Microsoft in the 4th quarter worth about $38,000. IFS Advisors LLC raised its holdings 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. LSV Asset Management acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth approximately $44,000. Avondale Wealth Management grew its holdings in Microsoft by 144.4% in the 4th quarter. Avondale Wealth Management now owns 110 shares of the software giant's stock worth $46,000 after buying an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fairway Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $62,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 3,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 directly owns 43,930 shares of the company's stock, valued at $20,339,590. The trade was a 6.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Amy Coleman sold 13,243 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $452.01, for a total transaction of $5,985,968.43. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 43,100 shares in the company, valued at $19,481,631. This represents a 23.50% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 135,743 shares of company stock valued at $60,224,683 in the last 90 days. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Microsoft Trading Up 0.9%

Shares of MSFT stock traded up $4.18 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $479.14. 15,536,581 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 21,515,256. The company has a quick ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.56 trillion, a PE ratio of 38.58, a PEG 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 $480.64. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $428.05 and a 200 day moving average price of $418.55.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.22 by $0.24. Microsoft had a return on equity of 33.36% and a net margin of 35.43%. The company had revenue of $70.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $68.54 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.94 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have weighed in on MSFT. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Microsoft from $465.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Tigress Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $550.00 to $595.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Guggenheim reiterated a "neutral" rating on shares of Microsoft 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 research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald upped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $502.00 to $512.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-nine have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus 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.