Five Oceans Advisors Trims Position in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Five Oceans Advisors cut its holdings in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 17.5% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 11,111 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 2,360 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for approximately 2.0% of Five Oceans Advisors' investment portfolio, making the stock its 12th biggest holding. Five Oceans Advisors' holdings in Microsoft were worth $4,171,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Ball & Co Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth about $31,000. LSV Asset Management acquired a new stake in Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth about $44,000. IFS Advisors LLC grew its position in Microsoft by 50.0% during the 1st quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 150 shares of the software giant's stock worth $57,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the period. Fairway Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth about $62,000. Finally, Sellwood Investment Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth about $120,000. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

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 transaction of $2,599,020.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 471,036 shares in the company, valued at $204,038,664.12. This trade represents a 1.26% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Judson Althoff sold 16,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on Monday, May 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $458.18, for a total transaction of $7,330,880.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 98,010 shares in the company, valued at $44,906,221.80. This represents a 14.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 135,743 shares of company stock worth $60,224,683. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Microsoft Stock Up 0.6%

Shares of Microsoft stock traded up $2.83 during trading on Friday, hitting $513.71. 19,103,456 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 16,594,816. The stock has a market cap of $3.82 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 1.04. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $483.52 and its 200 day moving average price is $431.52. Microsoft Corporation has a 12-month low of $344.79 and a 12-month high of $518.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 1.37 and a quick ratio of 1.36.

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, topping the consensus estimate of $3.22 by $0.24. The business had revenue of $70.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $68.54 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.79% and a return on equity of 32.74%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.94 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 21st. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.65%. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 25.66%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently issued reports on MSFT. Piper Sandler increased their target price on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Microsoft from $465.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Raymond James Financial increased their target price on shares of Microsoft from $480.00 to $490.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Mizuho increased their target price on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $540.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-nine have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $551.21.

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.