Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Sold by Edgewood Management LLC

Edgewood Management LLC reduced its position in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 7.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,637,290 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 371,041 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for about 5.6% of Edgewood Management LLC's holdings, making the stock its 6th biggest holding. Edgewood Management LLC owned approximately 0.06% of Microsoft worth $1,954,618,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have commented on MSFT shares. Westpark Capital restated a "hold" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Raymond James upped their price target on Microsoft from $480.00 to $490.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Morgan Stanley reissued an "overweight" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday, June 4th. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $430.00 to $494.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on Microsoft from $480.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $513.89.

Microsoft Stock Up 1.3%

NASDAQ MSFT traded up $6.25 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $478.87. 18,905,074 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 21,507,291. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 1.34 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 $480.37. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $423.22 and a 200-day simple moving average of $417.84. The company has a market cap of $3.56 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.56, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.03.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last issued 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. The business had revenue of $70.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $68.54 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.43% and a return on equity of 33.36%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.94 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Stockholders 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.69%. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.66%.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In related news, EVP Amy Coleman sold 13,243 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 43,100 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $19,481,631. This represents a 23.50% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, 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 owns 476,999 shares in the company, valued at $207,995,413.95. This trade represents a 13.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 135,743 shares of company stock valued at $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.