Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) is Tredje AP fonden's Largest Position

Tredje AP fonden raised its position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 3.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,894,400 shares of the software giant's stock after acquiring an additional 63,615 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up approximately 7.2% of Tredje AP fonden's holdings, making the stock its biggest holding. Tredje AP fonden's holdings in Microsoft were worth $798,490,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Muirfield Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Muirfield Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,427 shares of the software giant's stock worth $1,866,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. Retirement Financial Solutions LLC boosted its position in Microsoft by 2.3% during the 4th 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 period. Boulder Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Microsoft by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Boulder Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,569 shares of the software giant's stock worth $1,106,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Sterling Group Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.5% in 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 acquiring an additional 25 shares during the period. Finally, Kuhn & Co Investment Counsel grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Kuhn & Co Investment Counsel now owns 3,286 shares of the software giant's stock worth $1,385,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Microsoft Price Performance

Microsoft stock traded down $5.60 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $452.57. 19,196,249 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 21,549,924. Microsoft Co. has a 12-month low of $344.79 and a 12-month high of $468.35. The company has a market cap of $3.36 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.44, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.99. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $398.43 and a two-hundred day moving average of $413.04. The company has a quick ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.22 by $0.24. The business had revenue of $70.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $68.54 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 33.36% and a net margin of 35.43%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.94 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The firm 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 $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.73%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.66%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related 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 of the company's stock, valued at $204,038,664.12. This trade represents a 1.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Judson Althoff sold 16,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, May 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $458.18, for a total value of $7,330,880.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 98,010 shares in the company, valued at $44,906,221.80. This trade represents a 14.03% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 110,243 shares of company stock worth $48,619,618 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on MSFT. UBS Group cut their price objective on Microsoft from $510.00 to $480.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $480.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday. TD Securities lifted their price objective on Microsoft from $475.00 to $490.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Microsoft from $465.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Tigress Financial lifted their price target on Microsoft from $550.00 to $595.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price 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.