Manitou Investment Management Ltd. Sells 9,795 Shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Manitou Investment Management Ltd. lessened its holdings in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 8.6% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 104,043 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 9,795 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up about 7.6% of Manitou Investment Management Ltd.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 5th biggest position. Manitou Investment Management Ltd.'s holdings in Microsoft were worth $39,057,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 684,071,705 shares of the software giant's stock worth $288,336,224,000 after purchasing an additional 10,431,988 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 168,128,024 shares of the software giant's stock worth $70,720,874,000 after purchasing an additional 3,103,212 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth about $44,343,058,000. Northern Trust Corp increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 16.1% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 83,787,746 shares of the software giant's stock worth $35,316,535,000 after acquiring an additional 11,600,470 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 9.8% during the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 59,961,337 shares of the software giant's stock worth $25,273,704,000 after acquiring an additional 5,370,546 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Amy Coleman sold 13,243 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the executive vice president directly owned 43,100 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $19,481,631. This trade represents a 23.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Judson Althoff sold 16,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $458.18, for a total value of $7,330,880.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 98,010 shares in the company, valued at approximately $44,906,221.80. This represents a 14.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 135,743 shares of company stock valued at $60,224,683 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on MSFT. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Microsoft from $565.00 to $585.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 25th. DA Davidson lifted their target price on Microsoft from $500.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 2nd. UBS Group reaffirmed a "positive" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Monday, June 30th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald lifted their target price on Microsoft from $502.00 to $512.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-nine have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $534.14.

Microsoft Stock Up 0.4%

Microsoft stock traded up $1.84 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $503.32. 16,454,184 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 21,657,924. The company has a current ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The stock has a market cap of $3.74 trillion, a P/E ratio of 38.90, a P/E/G ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 1.04. Microsoft Corporation has a 1-year low of $344.79 and a 1-year high of $506.78. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $469.28 and a two-hundred day moving average of $425.41.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last posted its 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 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 35.79% and a return on equity of 32.74%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.94 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 21st will be given a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.66%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 21st. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio is currently 25.66%.

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.