Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Holdings Lowered by Freedom Investment Management Inc.

Freedom Investment Management Inc. reduced its holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 6.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 23,832 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 1,719 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for 0.8% of Freedom Investment Management Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 23rd biggest position. Freedom Investment Management Inc.'s holdings in Microsoft were worth $10,045,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in MSFT. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Microsoft during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $38,000. IFS Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Microsoft by 53.8% in the fourth quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 100 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. LSV Asset Management acquired a new stake in Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $44,000. Avondale Wealth Management lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 144.4% in the fourth quarter. Avondale Wealth Management now owns 110 shares of the software giant's stock worth $46,000 after buying an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fairway Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter worth $62,000. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 3,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $463.00, for a total transaction of $1,389,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 43,930 shares of the company's stock, valued at $20,339,590. This trade represents a 6.39% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 6,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on Monday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $433.17, for a total value of $2,599,020.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 471,036 shares of the company's stock, valued at $204,038,664.12. This represents a 1.26% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 135,743 shares of company stock valued at $60,224,683. 0.03% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $474.96 on Friday. The company 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's 50 day simple moving average is $428.05 and its 200 day simple moving average is $418.65. 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 fifty-two week low of $344.79 and a fifty-two week high of $480.42.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.22 by $0.24. The business had revenue of $70.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $68.54 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 33.36% and a net margin of 35.43%. Microsoft's revenue for the quarter was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.94 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 21st will be paid a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date 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%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on MSFT. Benchmark restated a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $465.00 to $475.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Cantor Fitzgerald boosted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $502.00 to $512.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $515.68.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.