Baxter Bros Inc. Has $58.21 Million Stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Baxter Bros Inc. lessened its stake in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 1.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 138,091 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 2,365 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises approximately 7.6% of Baxter Bros Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 2nd largest position. Baxter Bros Inc.'s holdings in Microsoft were worth $58,205,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Keystone Investors PTE Ltd. boosted its position in Microsoft by 131.1% in the 4th quarter. Keystone Investors PTE Ltd. now owns 192,533 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $81,153,000 after buying an additional 109,239 shares during the last quarter. Bay Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,663,000. Potentia Wealth acquired a new stake in Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth approximately $7,059,000. PKS Advisory Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $3,393,000. Finally, Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC now owns 161,117 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $67,911,000 after buying an additional 3,793 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Microsoft Stock Up 0.2%

MSFT stock traded up $0.98 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $462.95. 7,888,285 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 21,432,333. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $410.44 and a 200 day simple moving average of $415.29. 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 Co. has a twelve month low of $344.79 and a twelve month high of $468.35. The company has a market capitalization of $3.44 trillion, a PE ratio of 37.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.99.

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 for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.22 by $0.24. The firm had revenue of $70.07 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $68.54 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.43% and a return on equity of 33.36%. Microsoft's quarterly revenue was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.94 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be given a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.72%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 25.66%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 75,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $436.05, for a total transaction of $32,703,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 476,999 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $207,995,413.95. This trade represents a 13.59% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 1,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $460.01, for a total transaction of $460,010.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 47,058 shares of the company's stock, valued at $21,647,150.58. This represents a 2.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 132,743 shares of company stock worth $58,835,683. 0.03% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have commented on MSFT shares. Tigress Financial upped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $550.00 to $595.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $510.00 to $480.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Microsoft from $430.00 to $494.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Microsoft currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $513.13.

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.