Ardmore Road Asset Management LP trimmed its holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 25.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 60,000 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 20,000 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for about 3.7% of Ardmore Road Asset Management LP's portfolio, making the stock its 9th biggest holding. Ardmore Road Asset Management LP's holdings in Microsoft were worth $25,290,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.
Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Huntington National Bank lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 1,190,775 shares of the software giant's stock worth $501,913,000 after purchasing an additional 18,426 shares during the last quarter. Private Portfolio Partners LLC increased its holdings in Microsoft by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Private Portfolio Partners LLC now owns 20,652 shares of the software giant's stock worth $8,705,000 after purchasing an additional 306 shares in the last quarter. Intrepid Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in Microsoft by 6.8% in the 4th quarter. Intrepid Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,506 shares of the software giant's stock worth $1,899,000 after purchasing an additional 288 shares in the last quarter. Kesler Norman & Wride LLC increased its holdings in Microsoft by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Kesler Norman & Wride LLC now owns 35,311 shares of the software giant's stock worth $14,885,000 after purchasing an additional 210 shares in the last quarter. Finally, RFG Bristol Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at about $9,659,000. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
Insiders Place Their Bets
In other news, EVP Amy Coleman sold 13,243 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $452.01, for a total value of $5,985,968.43. Following the transaction, 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 75,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $436.05, for a total value of $32,703,750.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 476,999 shares in the company, valued at approximately $207,995,413.95. This represents a 13.59% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 135,743 shares of company stock valued at $60,224,683 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.
Microsoft Stock Performance
Shares of Microsoft stock traded up $1.70 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $472.62. The company had a trading volume of 16,371,327 shares, compared to its average volume of 21,517,831. Microsoft Co. has a one year low of $344.79 and a one year high of $476.16. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $420.97 and a 200 day simple moving average of $417.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 1.34. The firm has a market cap of $3.51 trillion, a PE ratio of 38.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.03.
Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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. The company had revenue of $70.07 billion during 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%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.94 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Microsoft Announces Dividend
The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 21st will be paid a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.70%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 21st. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 25.66%.
Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades
A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. Mizuho upped their price target on Microsoft from $475.00 to $500.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on Microsoft from $480.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Microsoft from $465.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. UBS Group lowered their price objective on Microsoft from $510.00 to $480.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Citigroup increased their price objective on Microsoft from $540.00 to $605.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $513.89.
Check Out Our Latest Analysis on MSFT
Microsoft Company Profile
(
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.
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