Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Sold by Intermede Investment Partners Ltd

Intermede Investment Partners Ltd lowered its position in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 15.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 618,545 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 114,407 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for about 7.0% of Intermede Investment Partners Ltd's holdings, making the stock its largest position. Intermede Investment Partners Ltd's holdings in Microsoft were worth $260,717,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Microsoft during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $38,000. IFS Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Microsoft by 53.8% in the 4th quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 100 shares of the software giant's stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares during the period. Avondale Wealth Management increased 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 period. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in Microsoft in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $62,000. Finally, Fairway Wealth LLC acquired a new position in Microsoft during the 4th quarter valued at $62,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, EVP Judson Althoff sold 16,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $458.18, for a total transaction of $7,330,880.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 98,010 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $44,906,221.80. The trade was a 14.03% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Amy Coleman sold 13,243 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $452.01, for a total transaction 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 110,243 shares of company stock worth $48,619,618. Insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of MSFT stock traded down $5.60 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $452.57. 19,196,249 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 21,549,924. The stock's 50-day moving average is $398.43 and its 200-day moving average is $413.04. The stock has a market cap of $3.36 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.99. 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 52 week low of $344.79 and a 52 week high of $468.35.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results 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 35.43% and a return on equity of 33.36%. The company had revenue of $70.07 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $68.54 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.94 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.73%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio is 25.66%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Piper Sandler reiterated an "overweight" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday. Scotiabank upped their price target on Microsoft from $470.00 to $500.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Wedbush reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday. UBS Group cut their target price 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, Westpark Capital reiterated a "hold" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $512.63.

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.