Martin Currie Ltd. Has $106.24 Million Stock Position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Martin Currie Ltd. cut its holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 3.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 252,058 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 7,794 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises 3.9% of Martin Currie Ltd.'s holdings, making the stock its 8th biggest position. Martin Currie Ltd.'s holdings in Microsoft were worth $106,242,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at $38,000. IFS Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 53.8% in the fourth quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 100 shares of the software giant's stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares during the period. Avondale Wealth Management boosted its stake in Microsoft by 144.4% in the fourth quarter. Avondale Wealth Management now owns 110 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $46,000 after buying an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter valued at about $62,000. Finally, Sellwood Investment Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter valued at about $120,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Microsoft Price Performance

MSFT stock opened at $467.68 on Friday. Microsoft Co. has a 12-month low of $344.79 and a 12-month high of $469.65. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $415.43 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $416.31. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.48 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.66, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.03.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last announced 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 company had revenue of $70.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $68.54 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.94 earnings per share. Microsoft's quarterly revenue was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.71%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. Microsoft's payout ratio is currently 25.66%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Microsoft news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 75,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $436.05, for a total transaction of $32,703,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 476,999 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $207,995,413.95. This represents a 13.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Amy Coleman sold 13,243 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $452.01, for a total transaction of $5,985,968.43. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 43,100 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $19,481,631. This represents 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 quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on MSFT. BMO Capital Markets restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Tigress Financial lifted their target price on Microsoft from $550.00 to $595.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on Microsoft from $475.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Piper Sandler reiterated an "overweight" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Finally, Citigroup upped their target price on Microsoft from $480.00 to $540.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 15th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $513.13.

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.

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