Mawer Investment Management Ltd. decreased its stake in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 2.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 3,178,026 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 76,428 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up 6.1% of Mawer Investment Management Ltd.'s portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest position. Mawer Investment Management Ltd.'s holdings in Microsoft were worth $1,339,538,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Adamsbrown Wealth Consultants LLC lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. Adamsbrown Wealth Consultants LLC now owns 5,967 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $2,515,000 after buying an additional 130 shares in the last quarter. Mcdaniel Terry & Co. raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 6.1% in the 4th quarter. Mcdaniel Terry & Co. now owns 315,594 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $133,023,000 after purchasing an additional 18,052 shares in the last quarter. 1900 Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 3.0% in the 4th quarter. 1900 Wealth Management LLC now owns 10,140 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $4,274,000 after purchasing an additional 294 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Financial Services Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 7.8% in the 4th quarter. Strategic Financial Services Inc. now owns 17,426 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $7,345,000 after purchasing an additional 1,268 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Elevate Wealth Advisory Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 147.9% in the 4th quarter. Elevate Wealth Advisory Inc. now owns 1,748 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $737,000 after purchasing an additional 1,043 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.
Insider Activity
In related news, EVP Amy Coleman sold 13,243 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $452.01, for a total transaction of $5,985,968.43. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 43,100 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $19,481,631. This represents a 23.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 75,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $436.05, for a total transaction of $32,703,750.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 476,999 shares in the company, valued at $207,995,413.95. This trade represents a 13.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 135,743 shares of company stock valued at $60,224,683 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.
Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth
MSFT has been the subject of several recent research reports. Evercore ISI set a $515.00 price target on shares of Microsoft and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Mizuho lifted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. TD Securities lifted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $490.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Bank of America cut their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $510.00 to $480.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $513.13.
Read Our Latest Analysis on MSFT
Microsoft Stock Up 0.8%
MSFT stock opened at $467.68 on Friday. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $415.43 and its 200-day simple moving average is $416.31. The company has a market capitalization of $3.48 trillion, a P/E ratio of 37.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 1.34. Microsoft Co. has a 12 month low of $344.79 and a 12 month high of $469.65.
Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.22 by $0.24. The business 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%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.94 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast 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. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be issued a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.71%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 25.66%.
About Microsoft
(
Free Report)
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.
Further Reading
Want to see what other hedge funds are holding MSFT? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report).
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