Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Sold by Ardsley Advisory Partners LP

Ardsley Advisory Partners LP lowered its position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 3.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 30,000 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 1,000 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up approximately 2.0% of Ardsley Advisory Partners LP's investment portfolio, making the stock its 8th biggest holding. Ardsley Advisory Partners LP's holdings in Microsoft were worth $12,645,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in MSFT. Adamsbrown Wealth Consultants LLC raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Adamsbrown Wealth Consultants LLC now owns 5,967 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $2,515,000 after acquiring an additional 130 shares in the last quarter. Mcdaniel Terry & Co. raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 6.1% during the fourth quarter. Mcdaniel Terry & Co. now owns 315,594 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $133,023,000 after acquiring an additional 18,052 shares in the last quarter. 1900 Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 3.0% during the fourth quarter. 1900 Wealth Management LLC now owns 10,140 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $4,274,000 after acquiring an additional 294 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Financial Services Inc. raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 7.8% during the fourth quarter. Strategic Financial Services Inc. now owns 17,426 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $7,345,000 after acquiring an additional 1,268 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Elevate Wealth Advisory Inc. raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 147.9% during the fourth quarter. Elevate Wealth Advisory Inc. now owns 1,748 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $737,000 after acquiring an additional 1,043 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MSFT has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Cantor Fitzgerald lifted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $502.00 to $512.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $525.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a report on Friday, May 23rd. Westpark Capital reissued a "hold" rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Needham & Company LLC reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Mizuho lifted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $500.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Five investment 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.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $515.68.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In related news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 3,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $463.00, for a total transaction of $1,389,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 43,930 shares in the company, valued at $20,339,590. The trade was a 6.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $453.77, for a total transaction of $9,756,055.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 134,888 shares of the company's stock, valued at $61,208,127.76. This represents a 13.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 135,743 shares of company stock worth $60,224,683 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of MSFT traded down $3.91 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $474.96. 16,804,288 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 21,539,207. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.53 trillion, a P/E ratio of 38.24, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.03. 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 12-month low of $344.79 and a 12-month high of $480.42. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $428.05 and a 200-day moving average price of $418.58.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.22 by $0.24. The firm had revenue of $70.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $68.54 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.43% and a return on equity of 33.36%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.94 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 21st will be given a dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 21st. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.70%. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio is presently 25.66%.

About Microsoft

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.