Altimeter Capital Management LP Lowers Stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Altimeter Capital Management LP trimmed its stake in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 37.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 993,480 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 592,420 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up 7.6% of Altimeter Capital Management LP's holdings, making the stock its 4th biggest holding. Altimeter Capital Management LP's holdings in Microsoft were worth $418,752,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in MSFT. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Microsoft in the fourth quarter worth approximately $38,000. IFS Advisors LLC increased its holdings in 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 in the last quarter. LSV Asset Management bought a new stake in Microsoft in the fourth quarter worth approximately $44,000. Avondale Wealth Management increased its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fairway Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Microsoft in the fourth quarter worth approximately $62,000. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MSFT has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. DA Davidson lifted their target price on Microsoft from $450.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Wall Street Zen downgraded Microsoft from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday. Morgan Stanley reiterated an "overweight" rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, June 4th. KeyCorp reiterated a "sector weight" rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Tigress Financial raised their price objective on Microsoft from $550.00 to $595.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-nine have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $515.68.

Microsoft Stock Down 0.8%

Shares of NASDAQ:MSFT traded down $3.91 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $474.96. 16,804,288 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 21,539,207. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $428.05 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $418.58. The stock has a market cap 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. Microsoft Co. has a 12-month low of $344.79 and a 12-month high of $480.42. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.22 by $0.24. The business had revenue of $70.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $68.54 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 33.36% and a net margin of 35.43%. Microsoft's quarterly revenue was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.94 earnings per share. On average, 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 21st will be issued 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 (DPR) is currently 25.66%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 3,000 shares of Microsoft 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 43,930 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,339,590. This trade represents a 6.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Amy Coleman sold 13,243 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $452.01, for a total value of $5,985,968.43. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 43,100 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,481,631. The trade was a 23.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 135,743 shares of company stock worth $60,224,683. 0.03% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Microsoft Company 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.