Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC Sells 84,978 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC cut its holdings in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 2.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,916,877 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 84,978 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up about 5.4% of Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC's portfolio, making the stock its largest holding. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC owned 0.05% of Microsoft worth $1,650,964,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Microsoft in the 4th quarter worth about $38,000. IFS Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 53.8% in the 4th quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 100 shares of the software giant's stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. Avondale Wealth Management lifted its stake in Microsoft by 144.4% in the 4th quarter. Avondale Wealth Management now owns 110 shares of the software giant's stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Microsoft in the 4th quarter worth approximately $62,000. Finally, Sellwood Investment Partners LLC purchased a new position in Microsoft in the 4th quarter worth approximately $120,000. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Microsoft Stock Down 0.8%

MSFT stock traded down $3.91 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $474.96. 16,804,288 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 21,539,207. The company has a market capitalization of $3.53 trillion, a PE ratio of 38.24, a price-to-earnings-growth 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 twelve month low of $344.79 and a twelve month high of $480.42. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $428.05 and a 200 day simple moving average of $418.65.

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 for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.22 by $0.24. The firm had revenue of $70.07 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $68.54 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.43% and a return on equity of 33.36%. Microsoft's quarterly revenue was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.94 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 21st will be paid a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.70%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 21st. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.66%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 3,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $463.00, for a total value of $1,389,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 43,930 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $20,339,590. This represents a 6.39% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $453.77, for a total transaction of $9,756,055.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 134,888 shares in the company, valued at approximately $61,208,127.76. This trade represents a 13.75% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 135,743 shares of company stock worth $60,224,683 over the last ninety days. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MSFT has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. KeyCorp reiterated a "sector weight" rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Evercore ISI set a $515.00 price target on shares of Microsoft and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. DA Davidson boosted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $450.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Scotiabank boosted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $470.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $515.68.

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.