Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) is Fmr LLC's 3rd Largest Position

FMR LLC lessened its stake in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 6.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 197,512,226 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 14,118,025 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up about 5.0% of FMR LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest holding. FMR LLC owned 2.66% of Microsoft worth $83,251,404,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Microsoft in the 4th quarter worth approximately $38,000. IFS Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of 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 during the last quarter. Avondale Wealth Management raised 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 purchasing an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter valued at $62,000. Finally, Sellwood Investment Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter valued at $120,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In other news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 75,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $436.05, for a total transaction of $32,703,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 476,999 shares in the company, valued at $207,995,413.95. This trade represents a 13.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 3,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated 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 in the company, valued at $20,339,590. This trade represents a 6.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 135,743 shares of company stock valued at $60,224,683. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of MSFT traded down $3.42 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $475.45. 8,107,209 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 21,451,343. Microsoft Co. has a 52-week low of $344.79 and a 52-week 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. The company has a market cap of $3.53 trillion, a P/E ratio of 38.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.03. The company's 50-day moving average price is $425.64 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $418.26.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.22 by $0.24. The firm 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%. The firm's revenue was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.94 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $500.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $480.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an "overweight" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Westpark Capital reissued a "hold" rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Evercore ISI set a $515.00 price target on Microsoft and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price 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.