Dividend Assets Capital LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 3.1% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 76,855 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 2,456 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises 5.5% of Dividend Assets Capital LLC's portfolio, making the stock its biggest holding. Dividend Assets Capital LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $28,851,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.
Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MSFT. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Microsoft during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $44,343,058,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in Microsoft by 40,290.4% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 46,695,303 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $17,528,950,000 after purchasing an additional 46,579,693 shares during the period. Proficio Capital Partners LLC grew its holdings in Microsoft by 34,643.3% during the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in Microsoft by 16.1% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 83,787,746 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $35,316,535,000 after buying an additional 11,600,470 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Microsoft by 1.5% during the 4th 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. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.
Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft
In related news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 75,000 shares of the company'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 completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 476,999 shares of the company's stock, valued at $207,995,413.95. This represents a 13.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 3,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 43,930 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $20,339,590. This trade represents a 6.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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. Insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.
Wall Street Analyst Weigh In
MSFT has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and set a $525.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a report on Friday, May 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on Microsoft from $480.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on Microsoft from $475.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. TD Securities raised their price target on Microsoft from $475.00 to $490.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Oppenheimer upgraded Microsoft from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $600.00 price target for the company in a report on Wednesday. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $534.14.
Check Out Our Latest Analysis on Microsoft
Microsoft Price Performance
MSFT opened at $503.32 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $3.74 trillion, a P/E ratio of 38.90, a PEG ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 1.04. The business has a fifty day moving average of $470.64 and a 200 day moving average of $425.85. Microsoft Corporation has a 52-week low of $344.79 and a 52-week high of $506.78. The company has a quick ratio of 1.36, a current ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12.
Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.22 by $0.24. The business had revenue of $70.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $68.54 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.79% and a return on equity of 32.74%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.94 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 EPS for the current year.
Microsoft Dividend Announcement
The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 21st will be given a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.66%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 21st. Microsoft's payout ratio is 25.66%.
Microsoft Profile
(
Free Report)
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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