GPM Growth Investors Inc. Lowers Stake in Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Key Points

• GPM Growth Investors trimmed its Microsoft stake by 3.6% in the fourth quarter, though MSFT still remains its second-largest holding and about 8.4% of the portfolio.
• Microsoft continues to enjoy broad institutional support, with large firms like Vanguard, State Street, Geode, and Northern Trust increasing positions; overall institutional ownership stands at 71.13%.
• Wall Street remains mostly upbeat after Microsoft posted better-than-expected earnings and revenue, while analysts maintain a consensus Moderate Buy rating with a target price of $560.88.

GPM Growth Investors Inc. cut its holdings in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 3.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 44,511 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 1,662 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for approximately 8.4% of GPM Growth Investors Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 2nd largest position. GPM Growth Investors Inc.'s holdings in Microsoft were worth $21,526,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 717,942,580 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $347,211,391,000 after buying an additional 15,955,898 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 1.1% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 299,196,519 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $148,823,341,000 after buying an additional 3,166,275 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 2.0% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 179,001,751 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $88,714,256,000 after buying an additional 3,532,054 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Microsoft during the 2nd quarter valued at $50,493,678,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings 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 valued at $35,316,535,000 after buying an additional 11,600,470 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on MSFT shares. UBS Group reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Friday, April 24th. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Friday. Mizuho lowered their price target on Microsoft from $620.00 to $515.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 14th. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price target on Microsoft from $641.00 to $646.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut Microsoft from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 24th. Thirty-nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Microsoft presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $560.88.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Microsoft news, EVP Amy Coleman sold 1,262 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $411.34, for a total value of $519,111.08. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 46,003 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,922,874.02. This represents a 2.67% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 12,321 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $409.52, for a total value of $5,045,695.92. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 137,933 shares of the company's stock, valued at $56,486,322.16. The trade was a 8.20% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of Microsoft stock opened at $418.57 on Tuesday. Microsoft Corporation has a one year low of $356.28 and a one year high of $555.45. The stock's fifty day moving average is $399.71 and its 200 day moving average is $436.24. The stock has a market cap of $3.11 trillion, a P/E ratio of 24.91, a P/E/G ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a current ratio of 1.28.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The software giant reported $4.27 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $4.06 by $0.21. Microsoft had a return on equity of 31.94% and a net margin of 39.34%.The company had revenue of $82.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $81.44 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $3.46 EPS. Microsoft's revenue for the quarter was up 18.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Microsoft Corporation will post 16.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 21st will be paid a $0.91 dividend. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 21st. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio is presently 21.67%.

Microsoft News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Bill Ackman’s Pershing Square disclosed a large new Microsoft stake, signaling strong confidence in MSFT’s long-term AI and cloud growth prospects. Billionaire Bill Ackman Just Made a Massive Bet on Microsoft. Here's Why.
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts and market commentators continue to argue Microsoft remains a strong long-term compounder, with some saying the stock looks cheaper than it has in years on a cash-flow basis. Is Microsoft Stock a Steal Right Now?
• Positive Sentiment: Some analysts say Microsoft’s move away from an overly dependent OpenAI relationship could be beneficial over time because customers increasingly want access to multiple AI models rather than one exclusive partner. Why Microsoft's Split With OpenAI May Be Great for the Stock in the Long Run

About Microsoft

Microsoft Corporation is a global technology company headquartered in Redmond, Washington. Founded in 1975 by Bill Gates and Paul Allen, Microsoft develops, licenses and supports a broad range of software products, services and devices for consumers, enterprises and governments worldwide. Its operations span personal computing, productivity software, cloud infrastructure, enterprise applications, developer tools and gaming.

Microsoft's product portfolio includes the Windows operating system and the Microsoft 365 suite of productivity and collaboration tools (Office apps, Outlook, Teams).

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