Agur Provident & Training Funds Management Ltd. Decreases Position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Agur Provident & Training Funds Management Ltd. decreased its position in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 43.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 12,262 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 9,460 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for approximately 2.0% of Agur Provident & Training Funds Management Ltd.'s portfolio, making the stock its 14th largest holding. Agur Provident & Training Funds Management Ltd.'s holdings in Microsoft were worth $5,168,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in MSFT. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $44,343,058,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 34,643.3% in the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 16,837,278 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $7,096,913,000 after purchasing an additional 16,788,816 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 684,071,705 shares of the software giant's stock worth $288,336,224,000 after purchasing an additional 10,431,988 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 76.6% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 10,532,402 shares of the software giant's stock worth $4,439,407,000 after purchasing an additional 4,568,539 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Microsoft by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 165,024,812 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $70,790,682,000 after buying an additional 3,264,648 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Microsoft Trading Up 0.7%

Shares of MSFT traded up $3.42 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $471.10. 8,065,047 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 21,437,772. 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 firm has a market cap of $3.50 trillion, a P/E ratio of 37.91, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.03. Microsoft Co. has a 52-week low of $344.79 and a 52-week high of $473.29. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $415.43 and a 200 day simple moving average of $416.31.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 earnings per share 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 the consensus estimate of $68.54 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 33.36% and a net margin of 35.43%. Microsoft's revenue was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.94 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 EPS for the current fiscal 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 given a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.70%. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio is presently 25.66%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on MSFT. Wall Street Zen upgraded Microsoft from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. BMO Capital Markets reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Raymond James upped their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $480.00 to $490.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Wedbush reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Microsoft in a report 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $513.13.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 75,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $436.05, for a total transaction of $32,703,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 476,999 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $207,995,413.95. The trade was a 13.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $463.00, for a total transaction of $1,389,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 43,930 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,339,590. This represents a 6.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 135,743 shares of company stock worth $60,224,683 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

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.