Commerce Bank Sells 50,624 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Commerce Bank decreased its holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 2.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,996,723 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 50,624 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for approximately 5.2% of Commerce Bank's holdings, making the stock its 2nd largest position. Commerce Bank's holdings in Microsoft were worth $841,619,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in Microsoft during the 4th quarter valued at $44,343,058,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC lifted 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 buying an additional 16,788,816 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Microsoft by 1.5% during 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 buying an additional 10,431,988 shares in the last quarter. APG Asset Management N.V. boosted its stake in Microsoft by 471.4% during the fourth quarter. APG Asset Management N.V. now owns 5,812,933 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $2,366,153,000 after buying an additional 4,795,536 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its holdings in Microsoft by 76.6% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 10,532,402 shares of the software giant's stock worth $4,439,407,000 after acquiring an additional 4,568,539 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Microsoft Stock Up 1.1%

Shares of NASDAQ:MSFT traded up $5.16 during trading on Monday, reaching $480.12. 6,839,075 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 21,481,646. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $428.05 and a 200 day simple moving average of $418.55. The company has a quick ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. Microsoft Co. has a 1-year low of $344.79 and a 1-year high of $480.64. The firm has a market cap of $3.57 trillion, a P/E ratio of 38.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.03.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last released 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 33.36% and a net margin of 35.43%. The firm had revenue of $70.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $68.54 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.94 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 21st will be paid a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 21st. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.69%. Microsoft's payout ratio is 25.66%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Bank of America cut their price target on shares of Microsoft from $510.00 to $480.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $525.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Friday, May 23rd. Scotiabank raised their target price on shares of Microsoft from $470.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Needham & Company LLC restated a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Piper Sandler reiterated an "overweight" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $515.68.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 6,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on Monday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $433.17, for a total value of $2,599,020.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 471,036 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $204,038,664.12. The trade was a 1.26% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $463.00, for a total transaction of $1,389,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 43,930 shares in the company, valued at $20,339,590. The trade was a 6.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 135,743 shares of company stock worth $60,224,683. Insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

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.