Folger Nolan Fleming Douglas Capital Management Inc. Trims Stake in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Folger Nolan Fleming Douglas Capital Management Inc. decreased its holdings in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 1.0% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 94,727 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 915 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises 4.0% of Folger Nolan Fleming Douglas Capital Management Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 5th largest holding. Folger Nolan Fleming Douglas Capital Management Inc.'s holdings in Microsoft were worth $35,560,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 684,071,705 shares of the software giant's stock worth $288,336,224,000 after purchasing an additional 10,431,988 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 168,128,024 shares of the software giant's stock worth $70,720,874,000 after purchasing an additional 3,103,212 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth $44,343,058,000. Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 16.1% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 83,787,746 shares of the software giant's stock worth $35,316,535,000 after purchasing an additional 11,600,470 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 9.8% during the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 59,961,337 shares of the software giant's stock worth $25,273,704,000 after purchasing an additional 5,370,546 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently commented on MSFT. Mizuho boosted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $540.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Evercore ISI set a $515.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Morgan Stanley restated an "overweight" rating and issued a $530.00 target price (up from $482.00) on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, June 26th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Microsoft from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, June 30th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-nine have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $538.04.

Microsoft Stock Down 0.0%

NASDAQ:MSFT traded down $0.20 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $505.62. The stock had a trading volume of 15,142,434 shares, compared to its average volume of 21,611,426. The company has a current ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. Microsoft Corporation has a 1-year low of $344.79 and a 1-year high of $508.30. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $473.43 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $426.73. The company has a market cap of $3.76 trillion, a PE ratio of 39.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 1.04.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $68.54 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.94 earnings per share. Microsoft's revenue for the quarter was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The firm 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 dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.66%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 21st. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 25.66%.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In other news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 43,930 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,339,590. This represents a 6.39% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Amy Coleman sold 13,243 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $452.01, for a total value of $5,985,968.43. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 43,100 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $19,481,631. This trade represents a 23.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 135,743 shares of company stock worth $60,224,683. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.