Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Sold by BNP Paribas

BNP Paribas lowered its position in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 2.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 364,277 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 8,507 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises approximately 6.7% of BNP Paribas' investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest holding. BNP Paribas' holdings in Microsoft were worth $160,312,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Microsoft by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 684,071,705 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $288,336,224,000 after purchasing an additional 10,431,988 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 168,128,024 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $70,720,874,000 after buying an additional 3,103,212 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in Microsoft during the fourth quarter valued at about $44,343,058,000. Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in Microsoft by 16.1% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 83,787,746 shares of the software giant's stock worth $35,316,535,000 after acquiring an additional 11,600,470 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in Microsoft by 3.9% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 49,052,704 shares of the software giant's stock worth $20,675,715,000 after acquiring an additional 1,823,579 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of MSFT stock traded down $1.10 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $478.04. The company had a trading volume of 15,377,602 shares, compared to its average volume of 21,491,260. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $430.54 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $418.94. Microsoft Corporation has a one year low of $344.79 and a one year high of $480.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 1.37 and a quick ratio of 1.36. The company has a market capitalization of $3.55 trillion, a PE ratio of 37.03, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.03.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.22 by $0.24. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.79% and a return on equity of 32.74%. The business had revenue of $70.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $68.54 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.94 earnings per share. Microsoft's revenue for the quarter was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 21st will be paid a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 21st. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.69%. Microsoft's payout ratio is presently 25.66%.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In other news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $463.00, for a total value of $1,389,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 43,930 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $20,339,590. This represents a 6.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 6,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $433.17, for a total transaction of $2,599,020.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 471,036 shares in the company, valued at $204,038,664.12. This trade represents a 1.26% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 135,743 shares of company stock worth $60,224,683. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MSFT has been the subject of several research reports. Benchmark restated a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Westpark Capital restated a "hold" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on Microsoft from $475.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Wedbush restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Microsoft from $465.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $515.68.

Microsoft 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.