Shelton Capital Management Has $219.76 Million Stock Position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Shelton Capital Management grew its stake in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 6.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 521,386 shares of the software giant's stock after acquiring an additional 29,654 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises about 5.5% of Shelton Capital Management's investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd biggest holding. Shelton Capital Management's holdings in Microsoft were worth $219,764,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Microsoft in the 4th quarter worth approximately $38,000. IFS Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 35 shares during the period. Avondale Wealth Management lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 144.4% in the 4th 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. Fairway Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of Microsoft in the 4th quarter worth approximately $62,000. Finally, Sellwood Investment Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Microsoft in the 4th quarter worth approximately $120,000. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of MSFT stock traded up $4.18 on Monday, reaching $479.14. The company's stock had a trading volume of 15,576,985 shares, compared to its average volume of 21,515,567. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $430.54 and its 200-day simple moving average is $418.94. Microsoft Co. has a 1 year low of $344.79 and a 1 year high of $480.64. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The company has a market capitalization of $3.56 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.03.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $70.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $68.54 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.94 earnings per share. Microsoft's revenue for the quarter was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 21st will be paid a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.69%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 21st. Microsoft's payout ratio is 25.66%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Guggenheim restated a "neutral" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of Microsoft from $480.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Scotiabank raised their target price on shares of Microsoft from $470.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, TD Securities raised their target price on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $490.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $515.68.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Microsoft news, EVP Amy Coleman sold 13,243 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 43,100 shares of the company's stock, valued at $19,481,631. The trade was a 23.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 6,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on 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 of the company's stock, valued at $204,038,664.12. The trade was a 1.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 135,743 shares of company stock valued at $60,224,683 over the last three months. 0.03% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.