Dudley & Shanley Inc. Sells 700 Shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Dudley & Shanley Inc. lowered its stake in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 6.1% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 10,854 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 700 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for 0.6% of Dudley & Shanley Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 29th biggest position. Dudley & Shanley Inc.'s holdings in Microsoft were worth $4,074,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Ball & Co Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Microsoft in the 4th quarter worth $38,000. LSV Asset Management purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the 4th quarter worth about $44,000. Fairway Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the 4th quarter valued at about $62,000. Finally, Sellwood Investment Partners LLC bought a new position in Microsoft in the fourth quarter worth about $120,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have weighed in on MSFT shares. Tigress Financial upped their target price on Microsoft from $550.00 to $595.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on Microsoft from $475.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Barclays increased their price objective on Microsoft from $430.00 to $494.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Needham & Company LLC restated a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $521.14.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 75,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $436.05, for a total value of $32,703,750.00. Following 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 1,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on Friday, May 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $460.01, for a total value of $460,010.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 47,058 shares in the company, valued at $21,647,150.58. This trade represents a 2.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 135,743 shares of company stock valued at $60,224,683 in the last quarter. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ MSFT opened at $495.94 on Friday. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $449.47 and its 200-day moving average price is $422.12. Microsoft Corporation has a 52-week low of $344.79 and a 52-week high of $499.30. The company has a market cap of $3.69 trillion, a PE ratio of 38.33, a PEG ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 1.03. 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 quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.22 by $0.24. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.79% and a return on equity of 32.74%. The company had revenue of $70.07 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $68.54 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.94 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, 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. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 21st will be paid a dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 21st. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.67%. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio is currently 25.66%.

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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