Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. Trims Stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. reduced its holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 12.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 13,184 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 1,924 shares during the quarter. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc.'s holdings in Microsoft were worth $5,557,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MSFT. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Microsoft by 2.0% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 165,024,812 shares of the software giant's stock worth $70,790,682,000 after buying an additional 3,264,648 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its holdings in Microsoft by 4.1% during the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 54,590,791 shares of the software giant's stock worth $23,490,417,000 after acquiring an additional 2,125,030 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 3.9% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 49,052,704 shares of the software giant's stock worth $20,675,715,000 after acquiring an additional 1,823,579 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 38,420,657 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $16,104,959,000 after purchasing an additional 406,940 shares during the period. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 28,228,502 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $11,898,314,000 after purchasing an additional 324,052 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Guggenheim reissued a "neutral" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $525.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday, May 23rd. DA Davidson raised their price target on shares of Microsoft from $450.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $515.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, TD Securities raised their target price on Microsoft from $475.00 to $490.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $513.13.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ MSFT traded up $0.09 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $458.77. 34,758,620 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 21,610,607. The company has a market capitalization of $3.41 trillion, a P/E ratio of 36.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.99. Microsoft Co. has a 52-week low of $344.79 and a 52-week high of $468.35. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $407.73 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $414.89. The company has a quick ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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 35.43% and a return on equity of 33.36%. The business had revenue of $70.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $68.54 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.94 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 15th will be paid a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.72%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. Microsoft's payout ratio is 25.66%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In related news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,500 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $453.77, for a total value of $9,756,055.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 134,888 shares in the company, valued at $61,208,127.76. The trade was a 13.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 6,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $433.17, for a total transaction of $2,599,020.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 471,036 shares of the company's stock, valued at $204,038,664.12. This trade represents a 1.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 131,743 shares of company stock worth $58,375,673. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Microsoft Company 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.