American Century Companies Inc. Sells 243,875 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

American Century Companies Inc. decreased its position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 1.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 16,710,149 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 243,875 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises approximately 4.0% of American Century Companies Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 3rd largest holding. American Century Companies Inc. owned 0.22% of Microsoft worth $7,043,328,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Adamsbrown Wealth Consultants LLC grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. Adamsbrown Wealth Consultants LLC now owns 5,967 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $2,515,000 after purchasing an additional 130 shares during the period. Mcdaniel Terry & Co. grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 6.1% in the 4th quarter. Mcdaniel Terry & Co. now owns 315,594 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $133,023,000 after purchasing an additional 18,052 shares during the period. Centric Wealth Management grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. Centric Wealth Management now owns 16,156 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $6,789,000 after purchasing an additional 112 shares during the period. 1900 Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 3.0% in the 4th quarter. 1900 Wealth Management LLC now owns 10,140 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $4,274,000 after purchasing an additional 294 shares during the period. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 2.4% in the 3rd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 9,250,128 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $3,980,299,000 after purchasing an additional 217,509 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Microsoft Stock Up 0.0%

MSFT stock traded up $0.09 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $458.77. 34,758,620 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 21,610,309. The firm's 50-day moving average is $409.00 and its 200-day moving average is $415.17. The company has a market cap of $3.41 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.94, 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 12 month low of $344.79 and a 12 month high of $468.35.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.22 by $0.24. The firm had revenue of $70.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $68.54 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 33.36% and a net margin of 35.43%. The company's revenue was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.94 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.72%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.66%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently commented on MSFT. Needham & Company LLC restated a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Guggenheim restated a "neutral" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Microsoft from $465.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Raymond James increased their price target on Microsoft from $480.00 to $490.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Westpark Capital restated a "hold" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $513.13.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,500 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $453.77, for a total value of $9,756,055.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 134,888 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $61,208,127.76. The trade was a 13.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Judson Althoff sold 16,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 98,010 shares in the company, valued at approximately $44,906,221.80. This represents a 14.03% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 131,743 shares of company stock worth $58,375,673. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

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.