Burns J W & Co. Inc. NY Has $49.58 Million Stock Position in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Burns J W & Co. Inc. NY cut its holdings in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 0.7% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 132,081 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 901 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for approximately 6.4% of Burns J W & Co. Inc. NY's investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest position. Burns J W & Co. Inc. NY's holdings in Microsoft were worth $49,582,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of MSFT. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at $44,343,058,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 40,290.4% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 46,695,303 shares of the software giant's stock worth $17,528,950,000 after purchasing an additional 46,579,693 shares during the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 34,643.3% in the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 16,837,278 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $7,096,913,000 after acquiring an additional 16,788,816 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in Microsoft by 16.1% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 83,787,746 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $35,316,535,000 after purchasing an additional 11,600,470 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Microsoft by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 684,071,705 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $288,336,224,000 after purchasing an additional 10,431,988 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Microsoft news, EVP Amy Coleman sold 13,243 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $452.01, for a total transaction of $5,985,968.43. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 43,100 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $19,481,631. The trade was a 23.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 75,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $436.05, for a total value of $32,703,750.00. Following the sale, 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 135,743 shares of company stock worth $60,224,683. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Microsoft Price Performance

MSFT stock opened at $492.27 on Thursday. Microsoft Corporation has a 1 year low of $344.79 and a 1 year high of $494.56. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.66 trillion, a P/E ratio of 38.04, a P/E/G ratio of 2.49 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. The business's 50-day moving average is $444.31 and its two-hundred day moving average is $421.40.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $70.07 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $68.54 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.94 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.67%. Microsoft's payout ratio is currently 25.66%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have issued reports on MSFT shares. Wedbush lifted their target price on Microsoft from $515.00 to $600.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Westpark Capital reissued a "hold" rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, May 1st. KeyCorp reaffirmed a "sector weight" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Bank of America dropped their price target on Microsoft from $510.00 to $480.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Finally, Morgan Stanley restated an "overweight" rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, June 4th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $519.43.

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.

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