Staley Capital Advisers Inc. Trims Position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Staley Capital Advisers Inc. trimmed its stake in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 0.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 404,252 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 3,371 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises about 7.6% of Staley Capital Advisers Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest position. Staley Capital Advisers Inc.'s holdings in Microsoft were worth $170,392,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in MSFT. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at $38,000. IFS Advisors LLC grew its position in Microsoft by 53.8% in the fourth quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 100 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Avondale Wealth Management grew its position in Microsoft by 144.4% in the fourth quarter. Avondale Wealth Management now owns 110 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in Microsoft in the third quarter valued at $62,000. Finally, Kieckhefer Group LLC bought a new position in Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at $141,000. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MSFT has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Microsoft from $465.00 to $475.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Benchmark reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $472.00 to $482.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. DA Davidson lifted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $450.00 to $500.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, KeyCorp reissued a "sector weight" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $510.30.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 6,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $433.17, for a total transaction of $2,599,020.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 471,036 shares in the company, valued at $204,038,664.12. This represents a 1.26% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Amy Coleman sold 13,243 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 15th. The stock was 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $19,481,631. This represents 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 sold 94,243 shares of company stock worth $41,288,738. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Microsoft stock traded up $1.14 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $454.27. The company's stock had a trading volume of 23,797,504 shares, compared to its average volume of 21,563,395. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $395.33 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $412.48. The company has a market cap of $3.38 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.58, a PEG 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 1-year low of $344.79 and a 1-year high of $468.35.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 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 analysts' expectations of $68.54 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.43% and a return on equity of 33.36%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.94 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

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

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.