Berkeley Inc Sells 9,279 Shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Berkeley Inc lessened its holdings in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 50.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 9,281 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 9,279 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up approximately 2.0% of Berkeley Inc's portfolio, making the stock its 19th largest holding. Berkeley Inc's holdings in Microsoft were worth $3,912,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MSFT. Adamsbrown Wealth Consultants LLC lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. Adamsbrown Wealth Consultants LLC now owns 5,967 shares of the software giant's stock worth $2,515,000 after purchasing an additional 130 shares during the last quarter. Mcdaniel Terry & Co. raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 6.1% in the fourth quarter. Mcdaniel Terry & Co. now owns 315,594 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $133,023,000 after purchasing an additional 18,052 shares during the period. 1900 Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 3.0% in the fourth quarter. 1900 Wealth Management LLC now owns 10,140 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $4,274,000 after purchasing an additional 294 shares during the period. Strategic Financial Services Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 7.8% in the fourth quarter. Strategic Financial Services Inc. now owns 17,426 shares of the software giant's stock worth $7,345,000 after buying an additional 1,268 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Elevate Wealth Advisory Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 147.9% during the 4th quarter. Elevate Wealth Advisory Inc. now owns 1,748 shares of the software giant's stock worth $737,000 after buying an additional 1,043 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently commented on the stock. UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of Microsoft from $510.00 to $480.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 14th. Piper Sandler reiterated an "overweight" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. BMO Capital Markets reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Guggenheim restated a "neutral" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Microsoft from $565.00 to $585.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $521.14.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 3,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $463.00, for a total value of $1,389,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 43,930 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,339,590. The trade was a 6.39% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Judson Althoff sold 16,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, May 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $458.18, for a total value of $7,330,880.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 98,010 shares in the company, valued at approximately $44,906,221.80. This represents a 14.03% 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 worth $60,224,683 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of Microsoft stock traded down $1.51 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $495.94. 33,955,963 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 21,627,079. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $446.90 and a 200-day simple moving average of $421.75. Microsoft Corporation has a 52 week low of $344.79 and a 52 week high of $499.27. The firm has a market cap of $3.69 trillion, a P/E ratio of 38.33, a PEG ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 1.37 and a quick ratio of 1.36.

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 analysts' consensus estimates of $3.22 by $0.24. Microsoft had a return on equity of 32.74% and a net margin of 35.79%. The company had revenue of $70.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $68.54 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.94 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Shareholders 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.67%. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.66%.

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.