Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Sold by KCM Investment Advisors LLC

KCM Investment Advisors LLC reduced its holdings in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 1.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 309,763 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 5,820 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for 4.5% of KCM Investment Advisors LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 3rd biggest holding. KCM Investment Advisors LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $130,565,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of MSFT. Muirfield Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in Microsoft by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Muirfield Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,427 shares of the software giant's stock worth $1,866,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares during the period. Retirement Financial Solutions LLC grew its position in Microsoft by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Retirement Financial Solutions LLC now owns 1,050 shares of the software giant's stock worth $443,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares during the period. Boulder Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in Microsoft by 1.0% in the third quarter. Boulder Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,569 shares of the software giant's stock worth $1,106,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares during the period. Sterling Group Wealth Management LLC boosted 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 buying an additional 25 shares during the period. Finally, Kuhn & Co Investment Counsel boosted 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 buying an additional 25 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently commented on MSFT shares. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on Microsoft from $475.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Tigress Financial increased their price objective on Microsoft from $550.00 to $595.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Wall Street Zen cut Microsoft from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday. Piper Sandler restated an "overweight" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Finally, Citigroup raised their price target on Microsoft from $540.00 to $605.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-nine have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Microsoft presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $515.68.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of Microsoft stock traded down $3.91 during 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 quick ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. Microsoft Co. has a fifty-two week low of $344.79 and a fifty-two week high of $480.42. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.53 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.24, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.03. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $428.05 and a 200 day moving average price 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 (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.22 by $0.24. Microsoft had a return on equity of 33.36% and a net margin of 35.43%. The firm had revenue of $70.07 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $68.54 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.94 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 21st. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.70%. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio is presently 25.66%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 6,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, May 5th. The shares were 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 directly owns 471,036 shares of the company's stock, valued at $204,038,664.12. This trade represents a 1.26% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Amy Coleman sold 13,243 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $452.01, for a total value of $5,985,968.43. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 43,100 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $19,481,631. The trade was a 23.50% 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 over the last three months. 0.03% of the stock is owned by company 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.