OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd Reduces Position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd reduced its stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 2.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 433,788 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 9,602 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up approximately 5.1% of OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd's investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd biggest position. OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd's holdings in Microsoft were worth $182,903,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in MSFT. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth $38,000. IFS Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Microsoft by 53.8% during 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 lifted its stake in Microsoft by 144.4% during 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 stake in Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth $62,000. Finally, Kieckhefer Group LLC bought a new stake in Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth $141,000. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. KeyCorp restated a "sector weight" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. 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. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on Microsoft from $475.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Tigress Financial upped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $550.00 to $595.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, DA Davidson upped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $450.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Microsoft has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $513.13.

Microsoft Trading Up 0.3%

Microsoft stock traded up $1.32 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $458.68. 13,971,400 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 21,584,780. The company has a quick ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $407.73 and its 200 day simple moving average is $414.89. Microsoft Co. has a twelve month low of $344.79 and a twelve month high of $468.35. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.41 trillion, a PE ratio of 36.93, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.99.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly 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 return on equity of 33.36% and a net margin of 35.43%. The firm had revenue of $70.07 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $68.54 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.94 EPS. The business's revenue was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict 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, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.72%. Microsoft's payout ratio is currently 25.66%.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In other news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $453.77, for a total transaction of $9,756,055.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 134,888 shares of the company's stock, valued at $61,208,127.76. This represents a 13.75% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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. Insiders have sold 131,743 shares of company stock valued at $58,375,673 in the last 90 days. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by corporate 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.