Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Bought by GFI Investment Counsel Ltd.

GFI Investment Counsel Ltd. boosted its holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 0.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 187,372 shares of the software giant's stock after acquiring an additional 1,384 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for about 9.1% of GFI Investment Counsel Ltd.'s portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest holding. GFI Investment Counsel Ltd.'s holdings in Microsoft were worth $78,977,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Muirfield Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Muirfield Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,427 shares of the software giant's stock worth $1,866,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. Retirement Financial Solutions LLC increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Retirement Financial Solutions LLC now owns 1,050 shares of the software giant's stock worth $443,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. Boulder Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 1.0% during the third quarter. Boulder Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,569 shares of the software giant's stock worth $1,106,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Sterling Group Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Sterling Group Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,540 shares of the software giant's stock worth $2,335,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kuhn & Co Investment Counsel increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Kuhn & Co Investment Counsel now owns 3,286 shares of the software giant's stock worth $1,385,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In other news, EVP Amy Coleman sold 13,243 shares of the business'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 owns 43,100 shares of the company's stock, valued at $19,481,631. The trade was a 23.50% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 75,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 now directly owns 476,999 shares in the company, valued at approximately $207,995,413.95. The trade was a 13.59% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have 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 corporate insiders.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:MSFT traded up $2.70 during trading on Friday, hitting $470.38. 15,271,762 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 21,523,496. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $417.20 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $416.67. The company has a market cap of $3.50 trillion, a PE ratio of 37.87, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.03. 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 12-month low of $344.79 and a 12-month high of $473.34.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 return on equity of 33.36% and a net margin of 35.43%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.94 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. 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, June 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.71%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 25.66%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently commented on MSFT shares. KeyCorp reiterated a "sector weight" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Tigress Financial boosted their price target on Microsoft from $550.00 to $595.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Benchmark restated a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Mizuho boosted their price target on Microsoft from $475.00 to $500.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on Microsoft from $475.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Microsoft presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $513.59.

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.