Te Ahumairangi Investment Management Ltd trimmed its holdings in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 12.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 85,232 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 12,662 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for about 7.5% of Te Ahumairangi Investment Management Ltd's holdings, making the stock its biggest holding. Te Ahumairangi Investment Management Ltd's holdings in Microsoft were worth $35,925,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MSFT. Muirfield Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Muirfield Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,427 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $1,866,000 after buying an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. Retirement Financial Solutions LLC raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Retirement Financial Solutions LLC now owns 1,050 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $443,000 after buying an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. Boulder Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 1.0% during the third quarter. Boulder Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,569 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $1,106,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Sterling Group Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Sterling Group Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,540 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $2,335,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kuhn & Co Investment Counsel raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Kuhn & Co Investment Counsel now owns 3,286 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $1,385,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.
Wall Street Analyst Weigh In
A number of research analysts recently commented on the stock. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Bank of America lowered their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $510.00 to $480.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $525.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. Morgan Stanley reiterated an "overweight" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Piper Sandler reiterated an "overweight" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $513.59.
Check Out Our Latest Report on Microsoft
Insiders Place Their Bets
In other Microsoft news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 6,000 shares of Microsoft 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 471,036 shares in the company, valued at approximately $204,038,664.12. The trade was a 1.26% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Judson Althoff sold 16,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 98,010 shares in the company, valued at approximately $44,906,221.80. The trade was a 14.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 135,743 shares of company stock worth $60,224,683. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.
Microsoft Trading Up 0.6%
NASDAQ MSFT opened at $470.38 on Friday. Microsoft Co. has a twelve month low of $344.79 and a twelve month high of $473.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a current ratio of 1.35. The stock has a market cap of $3.50 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.87, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.03. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $417.20 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $416.67.
Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.22 by $0.24. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.43% and a return on equity of 33.36%. The firm had revenue of $70.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $68.54 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.94 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate 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 given a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.71%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. Microsoft's payout ratio is 25.66%.
Microsoft Company Profile
(
Free Report)
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.
Further Reading
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