Aristotle Capital Management LLC Trims Stock Position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Aristotle Capital Management LLC reduced its position in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 1.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,111,797 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 77,403 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for approximately 3.3% of Aristotle Capital Management LLC's holdings, making the stock its 2nd biggest position. Aristotle Capital Management LLC owned about 0.06% of Microsoft worth $1,733,122,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Microsoft by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 684,071,705 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $288,336,224,000 after purchasing an additional 10,431,988 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Microsoft by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 168,128,024 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $70,720,874,000 after purchasing an additional 3,103,212 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Microsoft during the 4th quarter valued at $44,343,058,000. Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in Microsoft by 16.1% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 83,787,746 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $35,316,535,000 after purchasing an additional 11,600,470 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Microsoft by 3.9% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 49,052,704 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $20,675,715,000 after purchasing an additional 1,823,579 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Tigress Financial upped their target price on shares of Microsoft from $550.00 to $595.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $540.00 to $605.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Scotiabank increased their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $470.00 to $500.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $500.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Westpark Capital restated a "hold" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-nine have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $515.68.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of MSFT traded down $3.91 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $474.96. The stock had a trading volume of 16,804,288 shares, compared to its average volume of 21,539,207. Microsoft Co. has a 52 week low of $344.79 and a 52 week high of $480.42. The company's fifty day moving average is $428.05 and its two-hundred day moving average is $418.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 1.34. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.53 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.24, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.03.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $68.54 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.94 EPS. The company's revenue was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.70%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 21st. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio is currently 25.66%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Microsoft news, EVP Judson Althoff sold 16,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $458.18, for a total transaction of $7,330,880.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 98,010 shares of the company's stock, valued at $44,906,221.80. This represents a 14.03% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 1,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $460.01, for a total transaction of $460,010.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 47,058 shares in the company, valued at $21,647,150.58. This trade represents a 2.08% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 135,743 shares of company stock valued at $60,224,683 in the last 90 days. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Microsoft 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.